


Unstoppable

by StarsFindYourFires



Category: The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D (2005), We Can Be Heroes (2020)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:42:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 28,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28771803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarsFindYourFires/pseuds/StarsFindYourFires
Summary: On the day the heroes had fallen, Marvin thought it would be like every other day. Go to school, see if her best friend Milo Moreno would show up for once or play sidekick again, and then the cycle would go on repeat. Heroes had always been a part of her life seeing that her father Max was a comic artist, and of course the best stories he told Marvin were about his adventures on Planet Drool with Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Marvin always dreamed about becoming a hero, she just didn't imagine it would ever come true.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	1. It All Began With a Dream

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time publishing a fanfic, so I hope you enjoy!  
> (I don't own any of Robert Rodriguez's character that appear in this fic!!)  
> If you like what you read, don't forget to leave a comment and a kudos!

Ever since she could remember, Marvin had been a daydreamer.

  
She dreamed of faraway places like a castle of ice on a planet full of dreams. And on this planet were two heroes that weren’t a part of Marvin’s dream, but rather they were a dream her father would tell her about.

  
_“Everything this is or was began with a dream.”_

That was what Max had always told her. In Marvin’s mind, that explained her father’s inspiration for the comic series he had been working on ever since his college days at art school. If only that art degree could be used to get more jobs; it was a constant argument amongst their household. Marissa taught at Marvin’s school while Max stayed at home and drew comics all day. He was nearly ready to publish the first volume until the unexpected happened.

  
“So, you really knew them,” Marvin started to say. “You knew Sharkboy and Lavagirl?”

  
“Once upon a dream,” joked Max.

  
It was just another early morning before school. The sun still hadn’t risen, but Marvin was dressed and ready with enough time to talk with her dad while they had the time and peace. Max’s office was Marvin’s favorite room in the house. There were so many sketches and paintings and writing notes- it was no mystery where Marvin had gotten her daydreaming habit from.

  
“You could probably still publish the comics if you got the rights,” Marvin traced her fingers along the bulletin board. “Maybe you could try to get in touch with them and catch up like the old times.”

  
Anyone who had heard the stories Max told Marvin about Planet Drool never believed that her father- the boy from school with a head full of dreams, used to be good friends with two of the strongest Heroics. Marvin believed her father though. She always believed him. And yet as the years had gone by, it felt like Max no longer believed his own dreams.

  
Marvin could tell.

  
Max would get the same bittersweet daze in his eyes. Marvin knew he was thinking- reminiscing, and then he’d half-smile before shaking his head and giving Marvin a shrug.  
“Sometimes you need to leave stuff behind in order to grow up,” said Max.

  
Marvin raised a brow, silently judging her father. She reached her hand up toward her neck and from under the collar of her white hoodie she produced her necklace.  
“Is that why you and Mom gave me the legendary crystal heart for my birthday last month?” asked Marvin.

  
Max didn’t get the chance to answer Marvin’s question before Marissa shouted from down the hall that it was time for them to leave. With that, Marvin stepped over to Max, kissed him on the cheek and left with the promise to message him when she was let out of school. She tried not to stop and look back when Max returned to his avalanche of unfinished sketches; he let his head hang down in defeat while Marvin tucked her necklace back under the hoodie.

  
The crystal felt cold to the touch.

  
“What’s the point of getting me a bike for my birthday when we live too close to school for me to ride it?” asked Marvin.

  
The sun was slowly beginning to rise as Marissa and Marvin walked down the sidewalk. Marvin pushed her bike next to her, wishing there was enough distance between her house and the school where she could have just a few minutes of the satisfaction that came with being able to use her bike for once.

  
“You don’t always have to push it to and from school you know,” Marissa chuckled. “Maybe you and Milo could go bike riding one weekend?”

  
Marvin wanted to roll her eyes at the mention of Milo Moreno. She predicted that she’d be getting a text from her “best friend” sometime that morning before the start of class. In a way, she was right- Marvin’s phone began ringing after Marvin chained her bike to the rack and sure enough it was Milo.

  
“Hi,” Marvin answered her phone emotionlessly, waving her mother to go inside without her.

  
“Heeeyyy~” Milo resumed their typically normal greeting. “How’s my bestie doing on this fine, fine morning?”

  
“You’re going to be late to class again,” said Marvin. “Aren’t you?”

  
There was a pause on Milo’s end of the call.

  
“Actually,” his enthusiasm was lost, “I might not be in school at all today.”

  
Marvin didn’t respond. She adjusted her glasses and waited for Milo’s new excuse.

  
“The boss lady says we need all hands on deck today, that includes all the sidekicks,” explained Milo. “Miracle Guy and Techno just got shot out of the sky earlier and it’s on the news. Something big is about to go down today.”

  
Normally, Marvin would have started to fangirl. When she first heard that Milo had gotten the opportunity to join the sidekick program for the Heroics, she was absolutely psyched for him. But it began to feel like Milo was letting it go to his head.

  
“The last time you talked like that, it turned out you and your two teammates just had to dress up like it was Halloween and rescue a cat from a tree,” said Marvin.

  
Those pictures were #3 on the trending list. All together there were only three sidekicks.

  
Milo Moreno, sidekick to his father who led the heroics.

  
Cadence Vox, the spunky backup voice to Mrs. Vox.

  
And Riptide. The cat went ballistic all over him.

  
“Today might be different though,” said Milo. “Look, I know I haven’t been the greatest lately and I’m sorry about that. I promise that it’s gonna change starting today.”

  
“If you’re not going to be here, then that mean I’ll be sitting by myself in the corner of the cafeteria again,” Marvin put it bluntly. “How does that make it any different from the other days, Miles?”

  
Whatever Milo had to say to that, Marvin wanted to hear his excuse so she could use it on him like a weapon the next time he’d decide to pull this kind of stunt. Instead, she heard him talking to someone else. Their conversation was muffled and hushed, but it sounded like he was talking to a girl- Cadence, if Marvin had to guess.

  
“I gotta get going, Marvs. But I’m really, really sorry about everything. You know I am,” said Milo. “By the way…”

  
“Yes, I will lend you the notes that you miss today,” Marvin rolled her eyes.

A loud smacking noise suddenly made Marvin sit up straight with her heart pounding inside her chest. It took her a moment to realize that she had fallen asleep in the back of class again, and now the classroom was mostly empty. Marvin’s sketchbook was open where she had been resting her heard, she cringed when she noticed a small puddle of drool soaked into the paper.

  
“Have an interesting dream, Miss Marvin?”

  
Marvin looked up, horrified.

  
“Mr. Minus!” Marvin grimaced uncomfortably. “Sorry, sorry. I mean-“

  
“I think that nickname is fitting,” Mr. Minus started walking back to his desk. “I really don’t want to have to give you another minus for falling asleep again, Marvin.”

  
Quickly, Marvin stood up and collected her notebooks. She tried to wipe the spit away from her sketchbook with her hoodie sleeve.

  
“Sorry about that, Mr. M,” said Marvin. “I finished the test, so I guess I just dozed off.”

  
“And you passed it with flying colors,” assured Mr. Minus. “But napping in class still isn’t part of the plus behavior.”

  
“It won’t happen again. The sleeping thing,” added Marvin, “not the passing tests thing.”

  
Marvin caught herself staring down at her doodles. These were pictures she wouldn’t be caught dead showing anyone- not Milo and not even her own parents.

  
“Documenting your dreams again?” Mr. Minus sat down behind his desk.

  
Marvin almost didn’t hear his question when she placed her sketchbook on top of her other books. She began walking towards the door.

  
“You could say that,” Marvin muttered gloomily.

  
“Hey, Marvin?” Mr. Minus stopped his student right before she was out the door.

  
Marvin stopped and looked up. Her brows were raised above her black-framed glasses and her dark blonde hair started to fall out of her ponytail and into her face. She tried to tuck those annoying strands behind her ear.

  
“Yeah, Mr. M?” asked Marvin.

  
Mr. Minus took a moment. He sat up in his swivel chair and leaned against his desk.

  
“You know, you and your dad are a lot alike,” said Mr. Minus. “His head was full of dreams too.”

  
Marvin knew all about those old days. She knew her father and Mr. Minus went from sworn enemies to friends after the events on Planet Drool. It was almost surprising that despite Mr. Minus’s famed bad behavior in school, he was now the most like teacher in Marvin’s school. Marvin admired that- how people could change over time.

  
“Who said his head still wasn’t?” joked Marvin.

  
Mr. Minus smiled. He adjusted his black tie from under the collar of his dark purple dress shirt when he laughed softly.

  
“What I’m trying to say is that your dad was bold for being a dreamer,” said Mr. Minus. “His dreams were so strong, that he found a way to make them real.”

  
Marvin thought about her father’s dreams.

  
“Yeah, well,” Marvin turned to leave, “most of his dreams are somewhere in the Dream Graveyard.”

  
Marvin took a step into the doorway, but Mr. Minus’s words made her pause.

  
“That doesn’t mean that yours can’t become a reality,” called Mr. Minus.

  
Stopping, Marvin almost lifted her head to look up at everyone’s favorite teacher but instead, she started walking through the empty hallway. Her stomach felt like it was about to growl and the orange she had in her locker sounded divine. At least her mom was nice enough to let her eat lunch in her classroom instead of the lonely corner in the cafeteria. It didn’t surprise Marvin when the class was empty by the time she grabbed her lunch and stepped inside. She closed the door behind her and walked over to her seat right in front of her mother’s desk. Marvin set her orange down and opened her sketchbook up to the last page she marked so that she could go over the sketches with a fine liner. What made Marvin feel that her own “dream journal” was inferior to her father’s was that hers had been filled with nothing but sketches of a silly fantasy.

  
Trying to draw Sharkboy and Lavagirl was how Marvin first began drawing. When Milo became a sidekick, of course, she drew fanart of him being the hero they both wanted him to be. With that, Marvin would doodle the other two sidekicks too. She’d draw Cadence Vox anytime her songs would play on the radio or when the news broadcasted her new super-suit; Cadence was gorgeous, and anyone could see that.

  
Marvin didn’t want to admit the number of sketches she had of Riptide.

  
But as of recently, she started drawing a different hero. It was purely for her own enjoyment, and Marvin thought of it as a good distraction when she felt lonely.

  
She called this hero, Dreamcatcher.


	2. Showtime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sidekicks have their own parts to play before they go out for some hero work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly about my other three OCs.

“Are you and Mommy and Daddy going to kick bad-guy butt today?”

  
Riptide had been in a daze from lack of sleep up until his little sister’s voice snapped him out of it. He looked down at Guppy as he held her hand, walking her through the hallways of the Heroics’ HQ. They were on their way to what might as well been a daycare for the other children of the Heroics; Riptide remembered his anxiety when he was playpenned in that room for the first time away from his parents.

  
“Heck yeah,” Riptide smiled down at Guppy. “Bad guys, beware!”

  
Guppy giggled happily. At least she was far more comfortable with being on her own than Riptide was at her age. It was certainly a long time ago. Back then, Riptide was still going by EJ.

  
The two stopped right outside of the safe room where some of the other kids were already beginning to horseplay and act their own age. It was a nice sight to see, kids being able to be kids with their powers while they still could.

  
Riptide knelt down to be at eye level with Guppy.

  
“Alright, remember what we talked about?” asked Riptide.

  
Guppy nodded her head.

  
“Stay hydrated,”

  
“Uh-huh,”

  
“Stay calm,”

  
“Yes,”

  
“Have fun,”

  
“Go on,”

  
“And don’t take chum from Wildcard.”

  
Riptide smiled and ruffled Guppy’s hair. He handed Guppy her purple water bottle that he had been carrying for her.

  
“Atta girl,” Riptide pecked Guppy’s forehead before he stood up. “I’ll pick you up at the end of the day.”

  
“Bye, EJ!” Guppy waved before scurrying inside the safe room.

  
There were only a few people who still called him that. His parent and Guppy, of course. But like any other young teen, he had his fair share of nicknames he tolerated to avoid a possible frenzy, and others were simply meant to annoy him for the fun of it.

  
“Sup, Pinky!”

  
Like that one.

  
Riptide slammed his locker shut once he pulled out his helmet. On the opposite end of the bench from him was the only other boy sidekick who used the locker room. It was safe enough to call him his friend, but Riptide still hated the nickname.

  
“I thought we agreed that you weren’t going to call me out by my hair color, Milo,” Riptide rolled his eyes.

  
Milo laughed while he laced up his boots. He yanked on the laces tightly and wrapped them around his boot until he was satisfied to tie the knots.

  
“Oh, c’mon! Your hair color is iconic,” Milo insisted. “It’s how we know which of the Heroics are your parents.”

  
“Yeah,” Riptide glanced at his parts as he named them off, “because the fins, gills, and teeth aren’t dead giveaways all on their own.”

  
Most of Riptide’s suit was already on except for his helmet. He stood up from the bench to step in front of the mirror to make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything.

  
“You know that boots are part of your suit,” hollered Milo, “right?”

  
“You try swimming with those dorky things weighing you down,” said Riptide. “Then we’ll talk.”

  
Designing and creating their suits so that they were both functional and rememberable was a phase of the training that Riptide did not enjoy. His suit still felt tight seeing as it was made from the same material as a diver’s wet suit, with the exception of the material being flexible enough for swift movements and powerful kicks and punches. At least he wasn’t wearing spandex.

  
Riptide threw a few high kicks into the air, making sure he could still move freely. Punches weren’t normally part of Riptide’s fighting style; his gloves were meant to be thick enough to where he wouldn’t puncture his palms with his claws if he clenched his fists too tight. His claws were definitely one of his more useful traits in a fight, but he needed to stop biting his nails for them to grow back overnight.

  
Milo walked up next to Riptide and pointed at his vest.

  
“So, is the vest for aesthetic or is it like a life vest or something?” asked Milo.

  
“I think it’s supposed to be a nod toward my Mom and Dad,” shrugged Riptide.

  
With most of his powers coming from his father, the classic shape of a shark’s mouth and teeth were a must with Riptide’s vest. And the nod toward his mother were the shapes of floating magma across his collarbone and shoulders.

  
“At least your costume actually looks cool,” Milo led the way out of the locker room. “Mine looks near identical to my Pop’s, and I look like that wannabe edge-lord who sits in the back of class.”

  
“Cadence always looks like she’s on her way to prom,” added Riptide.

  
The two boys nearly began to throw their heads back and laugh right until the Scream Queen herself marched right out in front of them in her black and gold dress. She crossed her arms and stuck out her hip, even in heels she was still shorter than the boys.

  
“I know you two aren’t making hero plans without me again,” said Cadence.

  
“Without the queen?” Milo asked, dramatically. “Never!”

  
Cadence smiled sweetly, flicking her gold curls over her shoulder before she started leading the way down the hall toward the drone bay. As she walked away, she was singing one of many songs with the variation of “we can be heroes” when Riptide turned his head and noticed the stupid look on Milo’s face.

  
“Remind again what you see in her?” asked Riptide. “Besides the hot air in her head.”

  
Milo turned his head to answer, then having to look down at the floor to see Riptide clamping his hands tightly over his ears while curled up on the floor next to his helmet.  
“I HEARD THAT!” Cadence’s voice echoed from down the hall.

  
The announcement bell rang throughout the halls.

  
“A message to one of the Vox women,” Ms. Granada’s voice came over the loudspeaker, “please refrain from using that specific vocal range! All of the city’s dogs are gathering outside of our headquarters.”

  
Milo couldn’t help but snicker after the announcement. Riptide was breathing deeply, and his eyes were wide as he slowly removed his hands from his ears. Once he was sure that Cadence wasn’t going to try and make him go deaf again, he let the side of his head touch the floor. He let out a long breath and sighed.

  
“That vocal range irritates my ears,” huffed Riptide.

  
“Good thing your helmet can block that stuff out then,” Milo held out his hand to help Riptide stand.

  
The second he was on his feet, Riptide grabbed his helmet and placed it securely over his head and ears. Although his suit was a darker blue and his magenta hair was showing from his nape, Riptide still looked close to a carbon copy of his father. As the boys began to take a step down the hallway, they looked down at their watches when they started blinking.

  
They read the alert of an invasion about to cross over the city before they started to book it down the hall to the drones.

  
“Showtime,” said Riptide.

  
“No one will get to see your pretty pink hair though,” said Milo.

  
“Shut up!”


	3. #AlienInvasion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's read my fic so far! Hope you enjoy this next chapter too! :)

“How many times does Miracle Guy need to post a selfie in one day?”

Marvin frowned at her phone while she ate her orange slices. The Heroics all had their own social media accounts, but none of them posted quite as much as Miracle Guy. His most recent post was a selfie of himself in space with what looked like an armada of aliens in the background. On top of that, Marvin distinctly remembered seeing Miracle Guy on a stretcher while being loaded into an ambulance on the news earlier that morning.

 ** _#picturestakenbeforetragedy’_** Marvin typed and posted to the comments section of the post. She tucked her phone into her hoodie pocket when she turned her attention to the live broadcast of the Heroics making their dramatic appearance for the day.

Suddenly, two great white sharks launched from the water near the bay when two figures did a flip each midair before doing the classic hero-landing onto the docks.

 _Earlier today,”_ the male newscaster began, _“Sharkboy, and his sidekick, Riptide appeared from the ocean depts! Landing on the beach of South Andre Islands.”_

Marvin watched the two aquatic apexes stand tall on the docks. Her eyes were on the younger hero for the most part before the screen shifted to an active volcano threatening to erupt.

 _"And moments later,”_ the female broadcaster reported, _“Lavagirl blasted up from inside an active volcano!”_

Watching Lavagirl flying through the air on a large chunk of magma felt so surreal to Marvin. She didn’t mean to pick favorites, but it would be a lie if she didn’t admit all the Halloweens when she was younger and begged to dress up as her childhood hero.

Lavagirl was strong, and despite previously believing she was evil she found a way to overcome her own obstacles. She rose above it all regardless of her odds and Marvin thought she was so cool. There was once a time where she wanted to dye her hair pink, and now Marvin wanted to snicker at the irony of the streaks of indigo mixed in her hair. Those colors were more consistent with Riptide’s suit than Sharkboy or Lavagirl’s.

When Marvin heard the sound of the door opening, she whipped her head down to a blank page of her sketchbook and began drawing. She casually turned her head up to see her mom walking into the room.

“Hey, Mom,” said Marvin.

Marissa squinted at the television screen as she walked toward her desk.

“Well,” sighed Marissa, “I suppose it’s no mystery where Milo is today.”

Marvin looked back up at the television to see the three sidekicks were now flying through the city with drones tethered to their backs. If Milo wasn’t closest to the camera, Marvin would have kept her head up.

“Is there any way you can deduct points on his grade for doing something stupid?” Marvin grumbled and doodled angrily.

“I’m afraid I can’t grade him for what he does as a sidekick, Dear,” said Marissa.

Marvin rolled her eyes, nonchalantly flipping back to her previous sketches.

“He better not do anything stupid then…” muttered Marvin.

“Uh… guys?” Milo stared up at the hoard in the sky above them. “What’s the protocol for an alien invasion?”

Despite seeing it in the reality right in front of him, those words still soundest like one of the stupidest sentences that would ever leave his mouth. All of the sparring sessions in the world with his father couldn’t have prepared him for what to do in this situation. Not even the absurd video games Milo had played with his younger sister Missy offered any type of help to him.

“ET, phone home?” guessed Cadence.

No one had the time to figure out what that meant before the hanger doors to the largest ship opened up, and out came an army of much smaller ships. The size of them wasn’t what was meant to be intimidating, it was the sheer amount of them. Then without warning, the smaller ships began to charge down toward the Heroics.

“Evasive maneuvers!!” shouted Lavagirl.

All at once, the smaller ships rushed downward, and it was like trying to pass through a hailstorm without getting hit. Even though Milo was the unofficial leader to the sidekicks (by default), he tried to open his mouth and shout that if they wanted to win then they had to stick together and work as a team. More specifically he turned to Cadence to say it, but she was already gone.

“Sorry, I sing solo!” Cadence yelled before using her voice to begin knocking the ships out of the sky.

Still trying to avoid being knocked out himself, Milo felt relieved when he saw that Riptide hadn’t left him just yet.

"What’s the plan?” called Riptide, his instincts took over when a ship came too close for comfort- Milo had only blinked before he watched his friend throw one kick right before the machine was completely shattered.

“We have to stick-“ Milo couldn’t hear himself over the spiraling turbines to approaching helicopter. “WATCH OUT!”

The two sidekicks just narrowly dodged down to avoid getting knocked out of the air by the crashing news chopper. Riptide was the first to regain his balance in the air when he noticed the reason why the helicopter was going down was that something- someone was clinging to the windshield to avoid falling to the ground.

“Dad!!” Riptide started following the helicopter to help however he could.

Frustrated, Milo wanted to yell something insulting but he understood why Riptide left. Milo would have done the same thing if his father looked like he was in trouble. When the thought of Marcus entered into Milo’s mind, the only thing he could think to do was go find him. He’d know what to do, hopefully.

If anyone would know what to do right now, it was Marvin. Milo knew that.

Not very far away, Riptide had just disconnected himself from his drone and prepared for a tuck and roll landing just as the helicopter went down on the roof. He landed hard and rolled across the gravel until the side of the roof forced him to stop. Riptide started to pick himself up and shook the daze from his head before he jogged over to the helicopter, relieved to see that his dad was visible unharmed. But now that civilians were in the way, they had to be evacuated ASAP.

Riptide stopped next to the helicopter and dug his claws between the gap from the door when he started to pry it open just in time to hear the pilot ask if Sharkboy was okay. No one heard an answer, but rather the sound of glass shattering. The abrupt sound was enough to make Riptide rip the door completely from the helicopter right on time to see one of the ships flying away with his father, who was now dangling limply from the mechanical mandibles.

Clenching his jaw tightly and looking up at the surrounding ships, Riptide felt his instincts threatening to kick in.

“Ride’s over,” Riptide growled, marching over to the exit door on the roof.

With one powerful kick to the locked door handle, the metal door swung open so fast that it nearly fell off its hinges before he whipped to face the pilot and passenger. They watched Riptide bare his jagged teeth as he growled.

“Go!” barked Riptide. “Get to the ground level and stay where it’s safe. Hurry!”

The two adults ran quickly past Riptide mostly to avoid getting in the way of his approaching frenzy rather than to simply get away from the aliens invading their city. Either way, Riptide didn’t care. He was angry, and there was a never-ending supply of alien ships floating right above him. And they were all his for the breaking.

Riptide charged as they lunged toward him.

_“Baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo!_

_Baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo!_

_Baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo!_

_Baby shark!”_

Riptide growled deeply as he crushed the last three mandibles that tried to grab him. He backflipped and stomped on one that tried to get him from behind when he whipped over to the direction of that forsaken song.

“SHUT UP, CADENCE!” roared Riptide, somehow feeling angrier than before.

From the air between the buildings, Cadence kissed her gloved fingers and blew a kiss up in Riptide’s direction along with a curt wink. She continued singing the song that annoyed absolutely everyone as she used her voice to knock the spaceships down around her with every note she hit. Cadence was never much of a fighter, she preferred to be the pretty face with hands clean and she let her voice do the work for her.

She had been so caught up in her performance that she nearly didn’t dodge her drone in time to avoid the flying object that just collided with the building to her right. Cadence screamed when she dropped a brief distance; she told herself to stay calm and reminded herself that she wasn’t falling. If only that sense of safety hadn’t been ripped away when she looked at two ships pulling Riptide from the crater in the side of the building.

He wasn’t trying to fight back anymore.

The situation finally became real to Cadence.

“Milo!” Cadence spoke into the communicator on her wrist, trying desperately to fly away from the oncoming ships. “Milo, Riptide’s down and the other Heroics are dropping like flies! What do we do?”

Cadence waited for a response, but she waited too long to realize that a ship from behind was preparing to take out her drone. She felt the heat from her drone exploding above her but didn’t fall as another ship grabbed onto her and started pulling her toward the larger ship. Cadence tried to struggle, but super strength wasn’t part of her power. All she could do was yell into her communicator.

“Milo, where are you!?” cried Cadence. “MILO!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment, kudos, and bookmark if you like what you've read and want more!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's read my fic so far- my upload days will be on Tuesdays and Fridays!  
> Hope you enjoy the chapter :)

Looking up at the television screen in the corner of her classroom, Marvin felt numb.

This was impossible. This was insane. This couldn’t be happening.

One by one, each of the Heroics and two of the sidekicks had been abducted live on the news broadcast right in front of her. If this wasn’t such a devastating sight, Marvin might have laughed… the Heroics barely looked like they were putting up a real fight. Marvin didn’t get the chance to fully process what she was seeing until one ship had grabbed Lavagirl, causing Marvin she gasped sharply and throw her hands over her mouth.

All of a sudden, the screen went black.

Marvin stood up and saw her mother holding the TV remote.

“What are you doing?” asked Marvin.

Marissa didn’t answer immediately. Her eyes were wide, and she was looking in every which direction before the two turned to look out the windows wherein the distance toward the city, they could see the invasion taking over. Marissa marched over and began pulling the curtains shut.

“I need you to stay here while I go talk to the other teachers,” Marissa adjusted her cardigan as she hurried towards the door. “I’ll call your dad to come and get you.”

Marvin tried to tell Marissa to wait but she was already out the door. Everything felt so still and unreal. There was no way any of this could be happening. Milo would never believe… oh god, Milo! Every ounce of spite Marvin felt towards him was instantly gone as soon as Marvin realized that Milo was in the city, but she hadn’t seen him get taken yet.

Feeling her heart pounding out of her chest, Marvin took out her phone right as the screen lit up with a dorky picture of the person she was worried about.

“Milo, are you okay!?” Marvin didn’t mean to yell into the phone. “Talk to me, what’s going on?”

There was a commotion on Milo’s end of the line, yet Marvin couldn’t tell if Milo was running from something or what was going on. Turning on the TV might answer that question, but Marvin didn’t want to see any more of the chaos.

“Milo?” asked Marvin.

 _"Here!”_ Milo’s voice came at last. _“Right here! But I gotta make this quick-“_

Milo started screaming before there was a thunk.

“Milo!” cried Marvin.

 _“Still here,”_ grumbled Milo. _“Marvin, I know I’ve been the worst kind of best friend in the world, but I really need you to do this for me.”_

Marvin started pacing around the classroom, she leaned toward the door to make sure no one was about to walk in.

“Milo, I don’t think-“

 _“I need you to go to the Heroics HQ and find Missy,”_ instructed Milo. _“I need you to find her and make sure she gets to my Abuelita's!”_

“Your grandmother’s?” Marvin shook her head; she adjusted her glasses. “Milo, why are you asking me this when I’m in school? I’m not the super one here-“

 _“And I don’t even have useful powers, but I’m stuck in this situation!”_ snapped Milo. He sounded like he was running again, this time being chased by a metallic hissing sound. _“Just- just find Missy and make sure she’s okay! Get her and anyone else to my Abuelita’s house, and she’ll help you from there.”_

This day just found a way to add even more insanity.

“Milo, I know she’s your sister and things have been rough ever since your mom died, but I really don’t think that I can help-“ Marvin paused when she thought she heard the line go dead. “Milo…? Milo?”

She lowered her phone to find that her call had just been disconnected. Marvin looked up at the curtains and down between her phone repeatedly before she tugged on her ponytail, reminding herself how crazy all of this was.

The city was being invaded by aliens, the Heroics had all been defeated and taken by said aliens, and now her best friend was asking her to ensure that his younger sister made it safely to their grandmother’s house.

“What does he think I can do?” Marvin asked herself. “Not like I have any cool powers or a super-parent in the Heroics or anything…”

Marvin began pacing around the front of the classroom, wondering what she was supposed to do. Then she stopped when she saw the pages of her sketchbook that had been left open. She really, really couldn’t believe that she was as much as considering what she was about to do. And yet she found herself carrying it out nonetheless.

Grabbing a pen, Marvin scribbled an apology note on a blank page to her mother, leaving her sketchbook open and on Marissa’s desk along with her phone. If Marvin knew comic books well enough, then she couldn’t chance being tracked. All she had with her after climbing out of the classroom window was her bike and the clothes on her back.

Whatever Milo thought was about to go down must have been big.

Why else would he bother to ask his super-zero friend for help?

Needless to say, Milo felt like a total idiot.

Inside the holding cell to the aliens’ main ship, he sat on a bench next to his father, Marcus. They sat there, both leaning forward and holding their heads up in their hands with elbows perched on their thighs. There was no possible way for this day to get worse- unless one of his teachers had no soul and decided to fail him for not showing up to class again. Although, being compared to a room filled with arguing Heroics, Milo may have preferred the latter.

He sat up and turned over his shoulder to look at the back corner of the room where Riptide sat with his parents. Sharkboy sat silently, but his face was screaming his annoyance with Blinding Fast complaining about how he didn’t talk. Next to Sharkboy was where Riptide sat with Lavagirl at his side. She placed a hand on his shoulder, causing Riptide to look up at her and then at Milo. Riptide averted his eyes before Milo could do anything.

Milo had no better luck with Cadence. She had been standing next to her mother, Ms. Vox while she argued back and forth with Invisi Girl. When Cadence noticed Milo attempting to awkwardly wave at her, she turned her head away and stuck up her nose. Now Milo felt the stone in his gut sink deeper than it already was. Muting her call over the communicators was not a good call.

“This is a nightmare…” grumbled Milo.

Marcus sighed defeated. He patted Milo on the back.

“This is why I wanted to retire,” Marcus admitted.

Milo opted to not carry on a conversation with that. He knew deep down that when he crossed paths with his younger sister, Missy would be anything but happy. With any kind of luck, Missy would speak to them after a week of silence. The Moreno household would never be the same if things found another way to go sideways.

“Why don’t you cheer us up with one of those little songs you sing so well,” Miracle Guy cut through the arguing, “Sharkboy?”

Marcus shook his head and lowered it. He didn’t see Sharkboy immediately get up to his feet and march right up to Miracle Guy, silently threatening him not to push it. But even with the dorsal fin on top of his helmet, Sharkboy was still a good amount shorter than Miracle Guy who only took amusement from the encounter.

“Ooh,” Miracle Guy taunted, “you and I got some fish to fry.”

Lavagirl moved over to her husband’s side. She touched Sharkboy’s chest and gently pulled him away from Miracle Guy.

“Calm down, Sharkboy,” said Lavagirl, glaring at Miracle Guy. “He’s just baiting you.”

Marcus stood up from the bench to intervene in the situation, bluntly calling Miracle Guy out along with the other Heroics for acting like children. Milo stood up from the bench to see his two teammates’ reactions. As he had predicted, both were standing behind their designated parents while staring off at a random spot in the room.

“Yeah, Miracle Guy,” Lavagirl countered sarcastically. “Why don’t you just pretend that there’s a camera on you?”

“Well, there’s not a camera on me and it’s actually kind of liberating. I can finally be my true self,” Miracle Guy paused to begin pointing at the other Heroics in the room. “And my true self doesn’t like you,” Miracle pointed at Marcus first, then to other Heroics around the room, “or you, or you,” Miracle Guy turned to Sharkboy before forcefully poking his chest, “or you!” Miracle Guy eyed Lavagirl up and down. “Or you.”

Lavagirl didn’t have to show the fury in her face. Her red-hot anger was exposed as soon as her magenta hair ignited into pink flames. The warning was enough to make Miracle flinch and step back, but the faux hero wasn’t done just yet. He started glancing around the room wondering if any of the other adults were about to step in, but instead he saw the sidekicks. Miracle Guy pointed to the three young heroes one at a time.

“You know what?” held his hands up. “While I’m still being entirely honest, here’s something we can all agree on: your so-called sidekicks were the most useless thing to ever happen to the Heroics.”

Nobody moved or spoke out of shock.

It was just what Miracle Guy wanted. He lowered his hands and chuckled.

“I mean, come on! We’re all thinking it,” Miracle Guy turned and pointed to Milo. “Moreno’s boy ran off and tried to hide like a scared little brat,” he turned to Cadence. “Little Miss Pageant Queen couldn’t tell the difference between her audience and her enemies.”

Miracle Guy then turned to look at Riptide, standing behind his parents. He paused for a moment to chuckle, then having to stop himself before he started laughing.

“Well, don’t even get me started on the fish-freak’s little frenzy on the rooftops,” ridiculed Miracle Guy. “He’s just as mindless and hotheaded as his mom and pop-“

Miracle Guy didn’t finish that sentence. To everyone watching, it looked like Sharkboy and Lavagirl were ready to tear him to shreds and burn whatever was left into ashes. But Riptide beat them to it. He charged forward growling loudly and showing Miracle Guy just how sharp his teeth were. This time, the miracle hero stumbled backward and nearly tripped over his cape. He looked around for the reactions of the others, but they all looked away.

They all looked away with the exception of Sharkboy and Lavagirl stepping up to their son and placing their hands on his shoulders, telling him that he needed to calm down. Riptide put his teeth away, still glaring from under his helmet. Meanwhile, his parents tried to maintain a poker face that hid their pride in him.

“Careful,” warned Lavagirl. “He bites.”

With that possible tragedy prevented, the Heroics all went to their designated spaces in the room to get away from each other. And if they had their sidekicks with them, they were reminding them that they were their children first.

Cadence stood with her mother in one area. Her face was buried on Ms. Vox’s shoulder and she jolted, trying to keep herself from crying in front of the superior heroes.

In the farther corner, Riptide sat down on the bench with his back to the rest of the room. Riptide sat down first, keeping his head down when he removed his helmet. Sharkboy and Lavagirl sat down at either side of their son, but Riptide refused to lift his head up. Sharkboy placed one hand on Riptide’s shoulder while Lavagirl appeared to be holding her son’s hand in hers.

The only sidekick left was Milo.

He stood still as a statue right in front of the bench, and he didn’t snap out of the trance until he heard Marcus step next to him. Stress was obvious all over Marcus’s aged face, but there was something about the bittersweet look in his eyes that told Milo things would be okay.

Things were horrible now, but they had to turn out okay in the end… right?

They were heroes, this couldn’t be the end.

Not yet.


	5. Keep Moving Forward, Never Back

“I can do this… I can do this…”

 _I can’t do this,_ is what Marvin wanted to say.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been pedaling through the congested streets and mobs of panicked citizens trying to get away from the direction of the alien ships. It was because of those ships that Marvin didn’t have to stop and think about what directions she needed to go towards, seeing that the ships were on their way toward the Heroics HQ.

Did Milo know that they’d go after Missy next?

Marvin shook her head and willed herself to pedal faster once she saw that the HQ was within her sight. But the faster she approached the building, the more questions popped into her head. Like, what was she supposed to do once she got there? Her bike would never make it all the way to Abuelita Moreno’s house, nonetheless, carry two people on it for the ride down. And how was Marvin going to bypass all of the security in that place?

“Sorry,” squeaked Marvin, “coming through!”

She had just zoomed through the small gap between the fence and the plank that the gate’s security guard was supposed to raise so that cars could enter the parking lot. It looked like that guard was asleep, but Marvin knew she didn’t have time to think about what was behind her, she had to keep moving forward. And whatever she was going to do, she had to do it quick.

The entrance to the HQ was connected to a train cart, but Marvin figured that she could just run next to the tracks to get inside. That plan was shot down when she saw the number of security guards waiting where the train should have been parked. Seeing this, Marvin jerked her bike to a halt thinking that she was about to be apprehended. But the guards weren’t facing her, they were facing the building.

They were facing the train.

Marvin kicked the stand to her bike up when she climbed off and quietly jogged closer to find that the train was coming in hot in her direction and it was starting to rise up into the air. It didn’t completely stay in the air before it leaped over the guards and conveniently crash-landed just a few feet away from Marvin. Confused, she looked inside to see what looked like a group of children freaking out inside when she recognized one of them.

“Missy!” Marvin ran to the train and tapped her hands on the window.

The children jumped inside, nudging one girl in a striped shirt to make the train move until Missy rushed to the side and slid the door open.

“Marvin, get in,” Missy hurriedly waved Marvin over. “We gotta get out of here!”

Hearing the sound of the guards shouting to stop the children from leaving was the push Marvin needed to not ask questions and just get into the train. She helped Missy slam the door shut before returning to the girl in stripes.

“Acapella, get us out of here!” urged Missy.

More questions were rushing at Marvin but instead, she just urged everyone to sit down and hold on tightly to something when Acapella outstretched her arms in front of her. Standing in the front of the train and holding onto the pole with both hands Marvin frowned when she thought she heard a low humming noise, and the weight of the train began to shift. She stood by watching in amazement as not only the train began to lift from the ground, but Missy was calling out orders for everyone to follow like a born leader.

One order was for Noodle to reach out the open doors on the opposite side of the train and grab onto a light post. As he did the train began to steadily rise from the ground when they began to pick up speed. However, the guards wouldn’t be letting them go without a fight.

Marvin was trying to focus on not losing her balance and sliding across the floor like a fool when she looked outside and noticed three guards were attempting to stop them. The way they were approaching the train, Noodle had his back to them and wouldn’t be able to see that they were going to try and cause him to let go of the railing. In that slip second, Marvin could only describe that moment as her first real sense of fight or flight.

It all happened so quickly that Marvin could barely register when she let go of the railing to take a big step toward the pole nearest to the open door. She swung her hand back with the intention of smacking any of the guards who came too close on the next loop around and the first part went according to plan, until Marvin felt pins and needles sticking her in her palm and fingers. Right before her eyes, an icy blast of cold air and frost knocked all three guards down and out. Because of this, the train was able to gain the momentum it needed to spin away from the HQ and begin soaring through the air.

Noodle drew his arm back in as Missy and one other boy hurried to slam the door shut and with that, their escape had been accomplished. Everyone but Acapella was able to take a seat and let out a heavy sigh in relief. It was certainly exciting, but it still took its toll on everyone.

“Marvin?” asked Missy.

“Yes, Missy?” Marvin sat down with her eyes closed. “Everyone okay?”

Most of the children gave a muttered response, but Missy avoided the question.

“Marvin, you have powers?” asked Missy.

Marvin’s eyes shot open. She sat up and adjusted her glasses when she turned to Missy. Now all of the children were turned to look at her, waiting to see what Marvin’s answer could be. Instead of giving a direct answer, Marvin looked down at the hand she had used to ice the guards. Then she tugged on the chord to the crystal hanging from her neck.

The crystal felt icy cold in her fingers.

She looked up and shrugged her shoulders as a response.

“Apparently…”

“So, the president turned out to be an alien this entire time, and not only did they infiltrate the US government, but they hijacked the Heroics system as well.”

“That’s what they said,” answered Milo.

He and Cadence were now on somewhat neutral terms. She was still angry with him, but neither saw the point in continuing to fight. The adults were still busy bickering, and the desire for a somewhat neutral conversation outweighed Cadence’s desire to take off her shoe and use it to beat Milo over the head with it. They sat down and looked around the room for anything to entertain themselves with; their phones were taken away before they were put in the cell.

“I wonder how our sisters and the other kids are doing,” Cadence held her hands over her lap. “I hope they’re safe.”

“Hopefully they’re not acting like, well, you know,” Milo sat up and shook his head. “I called in a favor, so maybe things are going according to plan for once.”

Cadence frowned. She flicked her curls over her shoulder and adjusted her sitting position so that she was directly facing Milo.

“You did what now?” Cadence raised a brow.

Milo flinched and scooted away. He had seen the look Cadence was giving him from Marvin on the times he either caused them to be late for a movie premiere or didn’t go to school without telling her. He could never understand how women could manage to look so scary with little effort. Even Missy had mastered that look at her young age.

When Cadence leaned closer to Milo, he leaned away as far as he could without falling off the bench. He raised his hands up in a surrendering motion.

“I have a friend from school who knows a thing or two about hero stuff,” Milo explained, “and I know Missy knows and trusts her. If my faith has been well placed for once, then Marvin is well on her way to my abuelita’s with the rest of the kids.”

Cadence immediately rose to her feet, tossing her black and gold skirt behind her as her heels clicked against the floor. She was now standing directly in front of Milo when she leaned down with her glare now inches away from Milo.

“You mean to tell me,” Cadence summarized, “that the safety of my darling little sister is in the hands of your high school friend- someone who has absolutely no training or powers whatsoever,”

“Cadey-“

“You’re trusting someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing with our sisters’ lives,” Cadence finished.

It took almost no time at all for Milo and Cadence to conform to the same behavior as the other adults. Meanwhile in the adjacent corner Riptide had been trying to take a stress nap when the newfound bickering woke him up.

All of the previous arguments had faded into white noise when Riptide sat down on the floor in front of the bench Sharkboy had been sitting on. Up until he heard his two teammates beginning to fight, Riptide had been on the very of obtaining a peaceful nap given the circumstances. He sat up from leaning on Sharkboy’s knee for support, then barely glanced over his shoulder to growl quietly. That wouldn’t be enough to get their attention or stop their arguing, so Riptide had another idea.

“Hey, Dad,” Riptide stood up, nodding to the blank wall to his left. “Give me a hand?”

Sharkboy looked up and nodded. He stood up from the bench and walked up next to Riptide where they were in front of the wall. Lavagirl saw where they were going with their next move, and she slowly clamped her palms over her ears right before one of the most god awful sounds in the world filled the room.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to cover their ears and grimace from the sound of nails being dragged along a chalkboard almost made them go deaf. Well, that description wasn’t too far from the truth. By the time everyone looked up, they were witnessing Sharkboy and Riptide dragging their claws into the wall to spell out a two-word six-letter phrase in all caps. Once the words were spelled out, the shark duo used their claws to underline the words: **_SHUT UP._**

By the time their work was done, no one really knew who exactly the message was directed to. Milo and Cadence were able to get the hint when Riptide turned to look at them as he marched in their direction.

“Team intervention,” Riptide crossed his arms. “Now.”

Milo and Cadence exchanged nervous looks, but they agreed. The three sat down on the floor as the adults began talking to one another in words the sidekicks didn’t care to listen to. They began to whisper amongst themselves.

“That felt good,” Riptide admitted. He pointed a claw between Milo and Cadence. “You guys were ruining my nap, by the way.”

“You tried to take away our ability to hear all because we interrupted your vibe check,” Milo looked at Riptide.

“I did that because I knew it would get you guys to listen,” Riptide rolled his eyes. “We need to think of a way out of here. I heard you two bickering back here, and it sounds like you forgot that Guppy is also one of those kids you were worried about.”

Milo and Cadence didn’t respond. They took a quick glance at the other before staring down at the purple floor.

“Guppy is tough,” Riptide went on, “Acapella is strong, and I don’t know a lot about Missy, but I have a feeling they’re going to be okay. Look, I’m not trying to make some cliché motivational speech, but we’re next in line for the Heroics and we all have someone who’s depending on us to make things right.”

Milo looked up at Cadence, and Cadence looked up at Milo. Cadence reached up to twirl one of her curls around her finger.

“Acapella always was better at picking herself back up than I was,” admitted Cadence. “And like my mother always says- life is a performance.”

Milo and Riptide weren’t following.

“We mess up sometimes, but it’s all about the recovery and how we get the show back on track,” Cadence summed up her mother’s motto.

Riptide had a different kind of mantra that his father had told him. He’d still repeat those words to himself when he felt like he needed some sort of motivation when faced with the impossible.

“We have to keep moving forward to survive,” Riptide quoted. “Always forward, never back.”

“My dad always just told me to suck it up and move along,” said Milo.

Silent judgment was all that Riptide and Cadence gave Milo when they turned to look at him. It was almost as if they were questioning if he was trying to ruin the inspiring moment they had going on, or if he was honestly being serious.

“Sorry…” said Milo. “Okay, so how are we getting out of here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP to Marvin's bike.  
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter, remember to leave a kudos, bookmark, and comment if you liked what you read! I hope to see you in the next chapter :)


	6. Phonecall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy one month (and a day late) anniversary to WCBH!
> 
> Enjoy the chapter :)

Marvin thought that the day couldn’t possibly get any weirder.

She thought she and all of the children were about to die when Acapella ran out of breath, leading the train to start plummeting toward someone’s large open property. During the fall while trying to hold onto the pole while Missy held onto Marvin’s arm, she tried not to scream like all the kids were. Even when faced with the high possibility of death or serious injury, Marvin tried to be the mature one when screaming her lungs out would have been justifiable.

But right before the train began to collide with the ground, Marvin imagined- told herself that there were parachutes connected to the outside of the cart and everything would be okay. The landing was still bumpy and caused everyone to fly out of their seats before the train crashed into a gazebo decorated in flowers and that part of the nightmare was finally over.

Everyone tried to catch their breath when Marvin picked herself up and staggered to the sliding doors. They rolled open just as the homeowner began charging angrily from their home to demand who ruined their flowers.

“Everybody out,” announced Marvin, sounding like she just stepped off the world’s fastest rollercoaster.

All of the children rushed out of the train unphased except for two. One boy appeared to still be sitting down and right as Marvin was going to wave for him to join the others, he slowly… unnaturally slowly stood up and began- it looked like he was trying to run but the boy was stuck in slow motion.

“That’s Slo-Mo,” said the boy sitting in the wheelchair. “He always moves like that.”

After the boy introduced himself as Wheels, Marvin figured out how to lower the ramp from the cart and let Wheels lead the way outside to find a small, but then an extremely angry elderly woman running at them with her cane in the air. Being the oldest, Marvin was ready to step in front of the children to begin apologizing profusely for ruining the woman’s yard and gazebo.

Missy beat Marvin to it.

The elderly woman immediately recognized Missy when the young girl addressed the woman as Abuelita. With that, Marvin was able to let out a huge sigh of relief. She could have laughed if her heart wasn’t pounding so much, but she actually managed to accomplish her mission from Milo.

If only she knew her work was far from over.

“Hey,” Noodle squinted and pointed at the top of the train, “where did those parachutes come from?”

That was all it took for Marvin’s heart rate to rise up to where they were previously flying through the air again. She decided the best way for her to handle the situation was with denial. Later, Abuelita took the children inside for some ice-cold lemonade, Marvin decided to stay outside and sit on the cobblestone stairs. She just couldn’t believe what was going on. This was all too much and too much crazy to happen in just one day for it all to be real. This all had to be a dream.

But Marvin already ran through all the tricks in the books that she could use to wake herself up. Blinking her eyes three times didn’t work. Neither did holding her breath or pinching herself until she couldn’t stand it anymore. She tried to keep her eyes closed for a few seconds at a time to see if she’d be staring at her bedroom ceiling when she opened them,

“Eh-hem.”

But that didn’t work.

Marvin turned over her shoulder to see Abuelita Moreno standing behind her with a glass of lemonade. She handed it down to Marvin and she politely thanked her for it.

“Why are you sitting out here alone instead of with the children?” asked Abuelita.

Marvin didn’t answer at first. She meant to take a small sip of the lemonade that turned into two big gulps once she remembered how hot it was that day. She nearly regretted wearing her hoodie.

“Well,” Marvin sighed and lowered her cup, “they’re all children of the Heroics, and my parents are normal. I’m normal,” Marvin looked up at Abuelita and shook her head. “I’m not a hero, and I’m definitely not meant to be one.”

Abuelita Moreno held onto her cane with both hands when she frowned at Marvin. The elderly woman responsible for training each of the Heroics shook her head.

“That means absolutely nothing child,” said Abuelita. “Missy has no powers, and she has just been chosen as their leader. She told me that she saw you use your powers to help them escape.”

Marvin set her glass down and stood up.

“I don’t have powers,” she quickly said. “I’m normal! My dad’s been spending the past few years trying to write comic books, and my mom’s a schoolteacher. I’m just their nerdy kid who happened to be friends with Milo Moreno.”

Abuelita Moreno didn’t say anything. She was giving Marvin the same silent look of disappointment that Marissa would give her when waiting for Marvin to explain herself.

“I’m not a hero,” Marvin said again. “I wasn’t born special, and things like this don’t just happen. That’s not how life works-“

Suddenly Abuelita Moreno lifted her cane and brought it down to make a loud slam echo throughout her property, causing Marvin to jump.

“You don’t realize how special you are,” said Abuelita Moreno. “Your father was the daydreamer who dreamt an entire planet, and he dreamt up Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Your mother was the Ice Princess, ruler of the Ice Kingdom and the only one able to use the crystal heart.”

Marvin raised her brows, staring back at Abuelita Moreno in shock that she knew about who her parents were- especially her mother’s counterpart and her source of power. She watched Abuelita gently reach and hold the crystal in her hand.

“The only one who could use the crystal heart,” Abuelita smiled, “until today.”

Marvin wasn’t sure what to say, but she felt the corners of her mouth rise. Everything she was told was things she already knew, and yet hearing it from someone else- someone who was the backbone to the Heroics, being able to hear all of it from Abuelita felt so motivating to Marvin. It wasn’t just a reminder that everything that happened that day was real- it was the assurance that Marvin had made it that far and could go even further.

“The children have begun their training in the backyard,” said Abuelita. “You should join them so that you’ll be ready with them.”

Nodding her head, Marvin agreed. She began walking with Abuelita when she stopped.

“Could I borrow your phone for a quick minute?” asked Marvin, glancing out to where the kids were training. “I don’t want to say this in front of them after… well, you know. But my parents have no idea where I am and-“

Abuelita lead Marvin into the kitchen and handed her the telephone before she went to join Missy in supervising the training session. Once she was alone, Marvin took a deep breath and called the only person she knew she could talk to and get some advice on what to do next. She punched in the phone number and waited as the dial began to ring.

_"Hello?”_

“Dad?” Marvin’s voice quivered.

 _“Marvin!”_ Max’s voice exclaimed. _“Oh, thank god. Are you alright? Where are you? Your mom called me to come pick you up at school, but you weren’t there. She found your phone on her desk with a note and your journal, but-“_

“Dad,” Marvin stopped him. “I’m okay! I’m completely safe, I promise. But…”

 _"But?”_ Max sounded concerned. _“What’s going on? Where are you?”_

Marvin pinched her glasses and pulled them from her face when the lenses began to fog up. She turned and looked out the window into the training yard.

“I can’t tell you where I am,” said Marvin. “But… I really need some advice.”

 _“Okay,”_ Max took a moment to respond, _“I’m listening.”_

Marvin clamped her eyes shut tightly when they stung from salt.

“Let’s just say that today has been the craziest day of my life,” Marvin began. “Milo ditched me at school again so he could go play hero before he got himself abducted by aliens, he called me asking me to make sure his sister was okay, I shot ice from my hands without knowing that I could, we crashed into Grandma Moreno’s gazebo and ruined her garden…”

Marvin had to stop when her voice began to shake. She tried to take a breath and remind herself how silly all of that sounded, but the truth was that it was all terrifying. It was like something out of a nightmare and being the oldest amongst children made it worse. Marvin felt like she was flying blindly and all alone on this one.

“Do you remember that bedtime story you used to tell me about Planet Drool?” asked Marvin. “Were you, were you ever scared at any point in that story?”

 _"I was,”_ confirmed Max.

“Well… I’m really scared right now,” admitted Marvin. “Everything’s changing so fast, and I don’t know if I can keep up with it. I’m locked in, Milo’s counting on me, and I don’t think I can do this. I don’t know what to do.”

 _“It’s okay,”_ assured Max. _“It’s alright. I know how scary everything feels, but you can’t let that stop you, Marvin. Whatever you have to do, I know you’ll figure it out and come out on top. You haven’t let anything stop you before, why should this time be different?”_

“But what if it’s not enough?” asked Marvin. “What if everything gets so bad and I can’t clear my head to figure out what to do?”

Max paused. _“Dream a better dream.”_

Wiping her face dry, Marvin managed to crack a smile. She tucked her glasses back over her face.

“Thanks, Dad,” said Marvin.

 _“You’re welcome. Just promise me that you’ll be careful,”_ said Max, _“and stay safe.”_

Marvin nodded. “I will, I promise.”

 _“Good,”_ said Max. _“I gotta get going, but you’ve got some explaining to do for your mother when you get home. She’s worried sick, and I don’t think you want to listen to it just yet.”_

“Yeah, okay,” Marvin started tugging the elastic band from her ponytail. “I’ll be home tonight. Probably.”

 _“I know you will. I love you,”_ said Max.

“I love you too, Dad,” said Marvin.

 _“Good luck,”_ said Max, _“Dreamcatcher.”_

With that, Marvin hung up the phone. Her tears had run dry and the anxiety in her chest vanished without a trace. She still felt nervous but feeling ready for what was about to come next overpowered those fears.

She walked through the kitchen and opened the backdoors. Marvin wasn’t sure where she was supposed to start training, or even what she could be trained to do in the limited time they had. She just knew that she had to be willing to try. If a bunch of little kids could learn how to fight and use their powers in no time, then Marvin should be able to catch up with ease.

“Oh, hey,” Marvin noticed one of the children sitting at the top of the steps.

The little girl had been silent the entire day- Ojos, that was her name. At least Marvin was pretty sure of that. She walked up and crouched down next to Ojos when the little girl looked up from her tablet.

“You’re not going to train with the others?” asked Marvin.

Ojo didn’t speak. She returned to her tablet and began swiping through other drawings she had made when she handed her tablet to Marvin. Not thinking much of it seeing that Marvin normally stuck to herself and doodled the days away as well, she took the tablet and was instantly impressed with Ojo’s drawing.

“Hey, these are pretty good Ojo! I like-“ Marvin frowned when something stuck out about the drawing.

In the background, she very clearly recognized the doodle of a nervous-looking Milo standing behind a girl wearing an all too familiar white hoodie. The girl’s blonde hair was down and blowing in what looked like a blizzard, and there were no glasses to shield the determined look in her eyes. But the most eye-catching was the glowing crystal around her neck.

“It’s time to become a hero,” called Abuelita Moreno, “Miss Marvin!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who's been reading the fic so far. I really appreciate the reads!  
> Don't forget to leave a comment, kudos, and/or bookmark if you like what you've read and I'll see you all in the next chapter :)


	7. The First Speedbump

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the chapter :)

The temptation to give up was strong, and Milo felt like he was being dragged through the mud.

“Riptide,” muttered Milo, “can you pick the lock with your claws?”

“Tried it.”

“Cadence, can you use your voice to try and move the locking mechanisms in the door?”

“Did it, failed it.”

“That’s it,” Milo slouched his back against the wall, “I’m out of ideas! We’re stuck here.”

They had tried everything that they could think to do. Trying to pick up one of the chairs was the first thing they tried, but all the chairs were bolted to the floor. They didn’t attempt to try destroying the door after they watched Miracle Guy make the same attempt and fail. The only opening to the room they knew of was the small window where the aliens’ projector floated in to display the message from the president. And that window was much too small for anyone to think about squeezing through.

“Well,” Cadence carefully stood up, “there is one thing we haven’t tried yet.”

Steadying herself, Cadence wobbled and nearly fell back to the floor as a consequence of wearing high heels. She found a way to pick herself up and after dusting off her dress and fixing her hair, she gave the boys a cheeky wink before she began walking toward the closed window with her chin up high. The only sound in the room was her heels clicking against the floor before she stopped in front of the window and remained still for a few seconds, right before she visibly tensed up. Without warning, she began screaming at the most unbearably high pitch that she could as she threw her petite hands at the wall.

 _“I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE,”_ shrieked Cadence. “Let us out of here!!”

The only Heroic in the room able to tolerate that ear-piercing assault was Ms. Vox; she hurried through the aisles of chairs to her daughter. Cadence in the meantime had been making it clear that her cabin fever was getting to her even after Ms. Vox had to pick her up and pull her away from the wall.

“Cadence, darling,” Ms. Vox tried. “You need to calm down!”

Whether she was trying to be dramatic or if her panic was real, Cadence allowed her legs to give out so she could fall to the floor and start sobbing. The scene went from concerning, to downright pathetic and awkward in a matter of seconds.

“Great…” Riptide turned to Milo. “Cadence finally lost it.”

“And then there were two,” grumbled Milo.

It was impossible for everyone not to stare at the scene unfolding in the front of the room.

“I thought your dad had powers,” said Riptide. “You don’t have anything that can get us out of here?”

Powers were always a touchy subject in the Moreno family. When the entire city knew who Marcus Moreno’s kids were, the first question they’d be asked was if they had magnetic hands like their father. Missy hated that question for obvious reasons. And Milo started to dislike that question when he’d see the reactions from whoever was asking.

“I’m an esper,” sighed Milo. “Trust me, reading minds isn’t going to get us out of this room. It’s bad enough that it’s hard for me to turn on and off- you don’t want to know half of what goes through people’s heads.”

“What about the aliens?” shrugged Riptide. “Can you hear their thoughts? Maybe you can pick up on a hint, or anything that’s useful.”

Milo had to laugh, but he didn’t mean to sound spiteful.

“I tried that,” said Milo. “But their thoughts literally sound like the alien language from cartoons. And I don’t speak purple tentacled freak.”

Riptide glared at Milo for that last part, and Milo immediately took notice.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s just-“ sputtered Milo.

“It’s fine,” Riptide stood up. “It’s whatever.”

Riptide picked up his helmet and carried it under his arm when he began to walk toward his parents. As soon as he took that first step, the window to the room spun open, and in flew the same projector with what everyone assumed to be another message from the president. Immediately, all the Heroics stood up from their seats and hurried to stand front and center to act like they haven’t been wasting the past two hours making no progress on their escape.

Cadence walked away to stand behind her mother when Riptide walked over to make sure she was okay. Not knowing what else to do, Milo stood up to go join his two teammates.

“Ms. Granada, this is your final warning,” Marcus pointed to the screen showing his former superior’s face. “Release us, or we’ll be forced to take desperate measures.”

Ms. Granada chuckled, shaking her head.

“I’m afraid I’m not here to bargain with any of you fallen heroes,” said Ms. Granada. “I have a message that needs to be relayed to the three sidekicks.”

Surprised, the Heroics stepped to either side and parted to reveal the sidekicks standing in the very back of the room. They turned to look up at Ms. Granada, shocked that they were actually being acknowledged for a change.

Cadence was mid silent cry until she hastily wiped away the streaks of mascara running down her face. Riptide placed his helmet back over his head while Milo attempted to puff out his chest, but really it was a poor attempt at looking tough.

“Yes, you three,” said Ms. Granada. “Come closer, so that we can speak professionally.” she purposely looked at the Heroics. “Like adults.”

Out of previous habits, the sidekicks looked to their designated Heroic parent to silently ask if they should go along with it. After they received a nod or wave to walk forward, they did so while trying to maintain their composure. They walked forward until they unknowingly stopped and stood on top of a purple tile each.

Milo pointed at Ms. Granada.

“Release us,” Milo deepened his voice, “you purple… alien… woman!”

His poor effort made Marcus pinch the bridge of his nose and shake his head like every time he did something disappointing. Milo opened his mouth to keep “talking the talk” up until Riptide beat him to it.

“What do you want?” Riptide asked bluntly.

“Yeah,” Cadence crossed her arms and popped out her hip. “Besides makeup tips on that lipstick shade that’s so ten years ago!”

Riptide was ready to turn around and make himself comfortable on the floor somewhere. He would have abandoned the ship right then and there if the fury in Ms. Granada’s sneer hadn’t been satisfying to watch.

“There has been a slight change in the plans,” informed Ms. Granada. “As of now, it’s been decided that Heroics are as unfit to be mentors as they are to be the protectors of the Earth. Therefore, we will be moving the sidekicks to a different holding cell in preparations for the takeover.”

Their first reaction was to turn and look at one another, wondering if Ms. Granada was serious. The three almost began to turn to look to their parents for help, but they stopped and stood their ground.

“Oh yeah?” taunted Milo. “Well… what if we refuse to leave this room?”

“Yeah,” Cadence stomped her foot. “We’re not leaving our parents without a fight!”

The reason why Riptide didn’t add to the insults was that he started to get a bad feeling almost instantly. It was because of his clear mind that he was the first to notice the knowing grin on Ms. Granada’s face when she nodded down to a visible button in her hand. She waited to see the cocky looks on Milo and Cadence’s faces drop to the floor before she happily pressed the button.

There was no time to ask what was going to happen now- the circles below where the sidekicks stood opened and each of the sidekicks fell down through the floor, screaming like children on a ride they wanted off of.

“Come on…” Marvin grumbled to herself. “Focus...!”

Holding her right hand out in front of her after swinging it behind her a few times, Marvin attempted to use her newfound ice powers again. Unfortunately, she wasn’t having the same luck as she did back at the Heroics base. Not unless her goal was to blast cold air from her fingertips. She just couldn’t get the same ice blast as before, not even drinking as much water as she could help her as it did for Guppy’s hydrokinesis. All chugging water really did was force Marvin to take multiple trips to the bathroom.

Concentrating harder and trying to visualize a pillar of ice in front of her, Marvin’s hand began to feel like it was being pricked with pins and needles. Her effort was slowly beginning to pay off when the pillar began to take form. Slowly, she began raising her hand to build it higher until she broke and needed to gasp for a breath. Marvin held herself up on her knees when she lifted her head and found that the ice pillar collapsed into a small mountain of powdery snow. At that moment, Marvin yelled out in frustration and kicked her foot into the snow as hard as she could. As a consequence, her checkerboard VANS flew off her foot and began flying through the yard. She watched it land somewhere over the hedges, and Marvin could tell that the other kids were staring at her.

She didn’t turn around before she began walking to retrieve her missing shoe.

Ironically, it was just the excuse Marvin needed to walk away and not come back for a while. It gave her some time to think. She thought about how her trying to train like the others were absolutely pointless. She couldn’t fight, Marvin had never been a fighter. When she tried the fighting simulation, Marvin ran away screaming before the hologram had the chance to approach her. And with the rate that the others were improving their own skills, Marvin would never catch up. Freezing her hand and making piles of snow was a useless power in the Texas heat. Unless everyone wanted a snow-cone later, then Marvin figured she’d just be holding the kids back.

Marvin found her show next to a broken flowerpot. Panicked, she picked up her show and dusted off the bits of soil while mentally making a note to apologize to Abuelita Moreno and offer to pay for a new pot. Still, this wasn’t a terrible spot in the garden to take a breather. Marvin walked over to the metal bench and sat down. She leaned forward and held her chin in her hands when she allowed herself to close her eyes.

She wanted to daydream about something, anything that could make this whole thing easier or just fix everything. But Marvin was at the age where even she knew some dreams would just never happen.

“Are you okay, Marvin?”

Sitting up, Marvin turned toward the entrance where she came in earlier. There, stood Missy with her abuelita. Abuelita Moreno patted Missy’s shoulder before she began walking back to the training ground with the other children when Missy walked over to the bench where Marvin sat. Missy sat down and let out a sigh.

“Rough day?” asked Marvin.

Missy turned her head and looked at her.

“Oh, yeah,” said Missy. “This is harder than I thought. Trying to lead by example.”

“What are you talking about?” Marvin sat up. “You’re a natural! I’m the only teen here and I could never get them to listen to me like they listen to you, Miss. Your dad and Milo would be proud, and you know it.”

Missy nodded sadly and pulled her hair behind her ears. Marvin knew then that maybe she should have said something different, but at least they now had a common ground.

“You know, Milo hasn’t been the greatest with me either,” said Marvin. “He keeps ditching me at school so he can play sidekick, or whatever.”

Missy frowned and looked at Marvin.

“He did?” asked Missy. “When has he been doing that?”

Marvin shrugged. It had happened so often that she stopped keeping track.

“He ditches me at school most of the weeks and he uses that as his excuse,” said Marvin.

She waited, But Missy didn’t respond. Marvin sat up and looked at her.

“What?” asked Marvin.

Missy turned to Marvin and looked at her carefully. The Moreno girl looked like there was something she wanted to say, but whatever it was carried some sort of guilt along with it.

“Do you promise not to tell anyone?” asked Missy.

Marvin nodded. “Yeah, of course.”

“Milo hasn’t been doing sidekick work,” said Missy. “He can’t unless my dad is out with him- it’s a rule at the Heroics that if you’re a sidekick, you can’t be out unless your mentor is with you.”

Marvin raised her brows. In hindsight, all of what Missy said made perfect sense. It explained why she’d never seen any of the other sidekicks out on their own just yet. But that didn’t explain one other thing.

“I haven’t been doing great at school ever since our mom died…” Missy admitted. “Milo started ditching school, but he wasn’t doing any sidekick work. Some days he’d pull me out of school, and we’d go around the city and stuff. He was just trying to make me feel better about everything, so please don’t tell our dad about it.”

“I won’t,” Marvin promised automatically. “I promise.”

Suddenly, everything she had been holding against Milo was dropped. This entire time when Marvin thought he was living in some sort of fantasy; he had been going through the same grief as Missy. Milo had never tried to abandon Marvin- he was just making sure that his sister didn’t feel alone because of it. Now Marvin thought that the real bad friend in this friendship was her… she should have just talked to Milo about what was going on instead of jumping to conclusions.

Marvin opened her mouth to ask more questions, but she and Missy both looked up to the sky when the garden became dimmer. Right above them was one of the alien scout ships blocking the sun, and it was looking for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a kudos, bookmark, and comment if you like what you've read. I actually have the majority of the rest of the chapters done so if anyone wants me to upload them in chunks instead of two chapters a week, just let me know.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	8. Now It's Her Turn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the chapter :)

As the day continued to progress, Marvin felt more and more like a babysitter than anything close to a hero.

“Headcount,” Marvin stood at the end of the tunnel and counted the children as they walked past her. “Everybody here?”

Marvin was still trying to keep track of all the kids, and what they could do. She gave herself a reminder as she made sure they were all accounted for.

Missy- she and Marvin had been well acquainted long before now.

Wildcard- supposedly he had every known power, but Marvin was convinced that his true power was testing her patience.

Guppy- the youngest, and the youngest child to Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Marvin silently labeled the little girl as “looks like a cinnamon roll but could kill someone.”

Ojo- has not spoken a single word all day, but her drawings were very impressive.

Face Maker- he had to be told multiple times by Marvin not to hold his face in one position for too long or else it would freeze up.

Acapella- the most charismatic and she provided the vocals to their training montage.

Fast Forward and Rewind- twins with manipulation over time, and they did not get along.

Noodle- Marvin liked his t-shirt.

Wheels- extremely smart and all the while, more than capable of taking care of himself despite his chair.

And last but not least, Slow-Mo. Marvin had more patience to wait for him at the end of the tunnel than she did with Wildcard trying to act like a hotshot.

All together that made twelve children that Marvin somehow found herself responsible for. She still wasn’t sure how she blindly agreed to be tangled into this mess, and there was going to be a lot of explaining to do with her parents by the time she got home. At least Marvin was confident it would make for an interesting story.

“Okay, everybody’s here,” Marvin stepped out of the tunnel after Slow-Mo was caught up. “What’s the plan, Missy?”

“Wait,” Wildcard gasped, “WHAT?”

Everyone turned and stared to find Missy whispering something to Wildcard whilst showing him the drawings on Ojo’s tablet. He nodded and agreed to everything that Missy was telling him before announcing that he and Missy had just come up with a plan on how to infiltrate the aliens’ ship. Marvin shook her head at Missy, knowing this was all part of her plan.

“Ojo drew us a clue,” Missy showed the group a drawing of one of the alien ships in the middle of a clearing.

That same clearing and ship were conveniently left unattended beyond the brush. Once again, Marvin had that same feeling that’s been nagging her all day. This felt easier than it should have been, but maybe that was the same ship they saw just before they left Abuelita Moreno’s. Marvin didn’t want to think about if the aliens got to her or not, but all signs pointed to yes seeing that the ship was empty.

“Let’s go,” Missy and the others nearly started sprinting toward the ship until Marvin stopped them.

“Missy, wait!” pleaded Marvin, quickly pulling the Moreno girl aside. “We have to think this through for a second.”

“Marvin-“ tried Missy.

“You’re the leader here, not me,” assured Marvin. “But I’m the oldest, and I made a promise to Milo that I’m not planning on breaking; that promise extends to the others too.”

Missy calmed down a little after hearing about her older brother.

“You lead the way, and I’ll make sure everyone gets to the ship,” said Marvin. “We’re going to get up there and I’m not going to leave you guys alone, I promise. Okay?”

Missy nodded. “Okay.”

Keeping low to the ground, they made sure the coast was clear before sending each child out one by one. Missy led the way while Marvin did the headcount to make sure that no one would be left behind. As soon as she counted twelve heads, Marvin booked it after the kids and hurried onto the ship. She was surprised that it looked like they were actually going to make it.

“Where’s Slow-Mo?” asked Face Maker.

A quick recount proved that there were eleven children on the ship, not twelve. When the ground looked out to where they just ran from, they saw that Slow-Mo wasn’t even halfway to the ship. Marvin felt horrible for sprinting right past the boy without realizing he was being left behind, but there was a bigger issue approaching.

“Look!” Acapella pointed into the dense brush where large purple tentacles were starting to approach the ship.

Panic had officially set in as everyone began screaming for Slow-Mo to run faster; everyone screamed but Acapella who began singing. No amount of cheering for the boy to move faster could snap him out of his speed warp as the tentacles began to get too close to the clearing for comfort.

Marvin ran to the edge of the ship.

“Wheels, figure out how to fly this,” Marvin hopped off the ship.

“Marvin,” yelled Missy, “what are you doing?!”

There was a pang in Marvin’s chest when she realized that it looked like she was about to break the promise she just made to Missy. Given that the promise from Milo and Marcus had been shattered that morning, Marvin didn’t want to add to the collateral damage. She turned around midway to the brush and waved her arms in the air.

“I’m gonna buy you some time. Don’t worry,” called Marvin, “I’ll be right behind you!”

With the rate at which Marvin’s heart was pounding, she thought she was about to be sick. She turned around toward the brush mostly so that the kids wouldn’t have to see the terrified look on her face, but from behind she looked like she was ready to do something. What that something was, Marvin didn’t have a clue.

She ran off the ship with the impression that she was going to fight off an extraterrestrial being so that the kids would have enough time to not only get on the ship but figure out how to fly it. Remembering the nerdy girl whose best friend repeatedly ditched her at school, Marvin felt powerless. And yet, Marvin knew she had a job to do. She had to make sure those kids got up to the main ship and prevented the takeover. 

Powers that she barely had a grasp on how they worked or how she was supposed to control them wouldn't be any help to her. Even less helpful was that Marvin didn't know how to fight. While the kids were all working on combat training, Marvin was more absorbed in trying to build a sad excuse for a snowman. There was definitely no freezing the alien and running back to the ship. The only thing Marvin could think to do that she knew she could execute was to run. So she did.

"HEY!!" Marvin waved her arms in the air. "Over here!"

The tentacles pacing along the treeline rotated to where it appeared that the alien was now facing Marvin. If Milo were the one about to do this, Marvin would have been yelling at him for it. But now she understood that sometimes the right thing wasn't always the smartest thing to do. That's why Marvin ignored Missy and the other children when they started shouting for her to come back. She started running as fast as she could into the brush. As Marvin disappeared, the sounds of her yelling for the alien to follow her began to steer away from the hearing and the ship. Meanwhile, Marvin's split-second decision was what the children needed to wait for Slo-Mo to reach the ship just in time. But as soon as Slo-Mo reached the ramp of the ship was when the sounds of Marvin screaming alerted the children that she had just been captured.

"What does she think she's doing?" asked Wildcard.

Missy didn't answer. She understood exactly what Marvin had done.

Now it was her turn to lead by example.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading I really appreciate you all! Don't forget to leave a comment, kudos, and bookmark if you like what you've read :)


	9. The Dream Team

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Two chapters in one day!  
> Enjoy!! :)

“For the record, I’ve been biting my tongue all day,” stated Riptide. “But since you two got us into this mess and we couldn’t possibly sink any lower than this, I’m gonna take my turn to talk without thinking!”

The trapdoors the sidekicks had fallen down dropped them into another holding cell. This one was slightly smaller, but they knew where the door was. It hardly mattered without a key, and Cadence likely jammed the lock after she attempted to pick it with one of her bobby pins. The pin was bent at an odd angle and it was stuck, so any plans of getting out that way were ruined. One of the first things the sidekicks were able to pick up on in this different cell was how quiet it was. Not the type of quiet where the useless arguing is absent and peace could take its place, but rather it was an empty type of silence. A lonely quiet in which the three weren’t sure what to do next now that they were on their own and trying to trust in one another proved to be just as pointless.

“You know what?” Riptide put his head down. “Forget I said anything.”

On the stools in the middle of the room was where they sat and a triangle, speechless and hopeless with their current situation.

Cadence sat with one leg crossed over the other while cradling her cheeks in her fists. She wondered how her darling little sister Acapella was handling things wherever she was. But all that could come to her mind were the songs Acapella would sing in any kind of situation, and the way the three Vox women would harmonize when they sang together. Thoughts like this could normally comfort Cadence, yet all they did now was bring tears to her eyes.

Riptide was sitting on the floor with his back against his stool. It with difficult to sit given the dorsal fin on his back, but that wasn’t anything new. There was so much more on his mind than wondering how he got himself into this mess. He knew his temper back on the rooftops was what lead to him being caught, and worst of all was that he was aware that everyone who mattered to him knew about it. Riptide didn’t want to think about how he let his parents down or how Guppy may have reacted to watching all three members of her family being abducted. He just hoped that she was safe.

Last but not least was Milo Moreno. He had already mentally beaten himself up in every possible way back in the first holding cell when he sat next to his father. While listening to the Heroics firing back and forth at each other, Milo had been waiting for the moment when Marcus would turn to him and give him a lecture on how important it was for him to lead by example for his two teammates. But he didn’t. Maybe it was because Marcus was busy pondering on how he would have to make it up to Missy for breaking his promise on coming out of retirement. Missy would be just as angry with Milo simply for being stupid, and she would be right. No amount of combat or training his power could have prepared him for this. None of it could get them out of this cell either.

There was one person Milo knew could figure a way out, but he was dreading what might happen the next time he saw her.

Milo sighed and put his head down, holding his hand in his hair.

 _Marvin,’_ he thought. _‘I know you probably hate me, but I wish you were here.’_

_'Milo is so dead for this…’_

“Marvin?” Milo spoke aloud, lifting up his head.

Cadence and Riptide looked up at Milo in confusion. They looked at one another just to shrug when they didn’t have a clue as to what Milo was talking about.

_‘Marvin, can you hear me?’_

_'D-E-A-D, Milo. You’re dead! I’ve even got a great codename for you too- Dead Boy Walking!’_

Milo took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

_'Marvin, you sound close. Where are you?’_

“Hey, Mr. Alien-Guy!” Marvin’s frustrated voice came from directly outside the cell. “Didn’t your mom ever teach you to keep your slimy tentacles to yourself?!”

The cell door opened and prompted to sidekicks to stand up on high alert. It would have been impossible for them to make a run for it and escape when they saw a group of guards surrounding Mrs. Granada. The woman stood in the doorway, watching in amusement as one of the guards tossed in a blonde-haired girl in a white hoodie. She landed on the ground with such an impact that her glasses fell off, and she apparently didn’t notice or didn’t care when she got back up and tried to run at the guards.

She yelled out and anger and swung her small fists to try and punch the guards, earning her nothing but chuckles before she was swatted away like an annoying bug. Right when Marvin blinked, she briefly caught a purple blur reach toward her neck and she plainly felt her necklace being ripped away.

“HEY!” Marvin tried to grab her mother’s necklace. “Give that back!”

The guard used his tentacle to hand the crystal heart to Ms. Granada. She held the crystal in front of her eyes, letting it swing back and forth like a pendulum before she smiled, then handing the necklace back to the guard.

“I see no point in wasting my time with you now that you are powerless,” Ms. Granada looked up to the sidekicks. “They’ve already heard their lecture, so I’m sure they’ll be happy to catch you up.”

Before they left, Ms. Granada held up the key to the cell in clear view. She waved it mockingly in the sidekicks’ faces before turning to leave the room with the guards. The cell door lowered with enough force to spit Cadence’s bobby pin out and cast it aside before the new cellmate tried pounding her fists on the door.

“Leave them alone, they’re just kids!!” she screamed and pounded on the door. “HEY!”

“Marvin?”

The girl instantly stopped and drew in a shocked breath from shock. She turned around wide-eyed with her hands pressed over her mouth, but she stopped once she recognized the voice. She could barely see anything in the room, but she could make out enough to know who was standing a few feet in front of her.

“Milo?” Marvin slowly stepped forward.

She paused and began squinting- Milo confused her struggle to clear her vision for one that showed how angry she was with him. It didn’t help when Marvin ran at him to tackle him to the floor as Milo had expected. Instead. Marvin threw her arms over Milo’s shoulders and proceeded to hug him tightly.

“You have no idea how good it is to see you right now,” Marvin said before letting Milo go and punching him in the shoulder. “Don’t ever pull this stunt again! Do you have any idea what I’ve had to go through today?”

To say that Milo was as relieved as he was terrified was an understatement. He was more than happy that Marvin’s first reaction wasn’t to start beating the snot out of him, but it also slipped his mind that Marvin indefinitely gave him a piece of hers.

Marvin continued her rant and pulled on her hair, unaware that her vent was being spectated by two people she never wanted to make this kind of first impression on.

“Ditching me at school for almost a week now is one thing, Milo Moreno,” Marvin pointed at Milo’s chest. “But this is new, even for you. Today has been a complete nightmare!”

“Marvin-“ Milo tried.

“My parents have no idea where I am,” Marvin started counting her fingers, “and I couldn’t tell them or use my phone to call them because I couldn’t put them in danger. My anxiety has been through the roof today because I’ve had to play babysitter to a bunch of kids- we were flying on a train cart through the air, Milo! Then we almost crashed, but apparently, I have my dad’s ability to will random things into reality- it turns out my dad wasn’t lying about those stories after all. But that’s not the point, Moreno!”

Cadence and Riptide had no clue what they were witnessing. While Cadence found it entertaining to watch Milo begin to squirm, Riptide noticed the discarded glasses on the floor. He decided to pick them up before someone stepped on and broke them.

“Today has been crazy, Milo,” Marvin continued. “CRAZY! And the only power I just barely started to get a handle on was literally ripped away from me and now we’re stuck here!!”

“Uh, excuse me?” Riptide intervened.

“What?” Marvin turned to him, not sure who she just yelled at.

Riptide handed Marvin her glasses.

“Thanks,” Marvin took her glasses and wiped them off on her hoodie.

Sliding her glasses back over her eyes, Marvin intended to resume her verbal attack on Milo until she realized who was standing right in front of her. The cold air immediately disappeared and the crystal around her neck no longer glowed. Her cheeks immediately began heating up.

“Uh, hi,” Riptide waved. “Nice to meet you.”

He held out his hand for Marvin to shake and formally introduce herself. When Marvin hadn’t moved or responded, Riptide became self-conscious of his claws. It wasn’t the first time someone avoided touching him because of one of his shark traits. Marvin had dodged his handshake, but it was when she crouched down to pick up the straightened bobby pin.

“Let’s get out of here,” Marvin started marching toward the door.

Cadence rolled her eyes. “We already tried that, sweetie.”

“We’re gonna need the key if we want out of here, Marvs,” Milo agreed.

Standing in front of the cell door, Marvin studied the bobby pin while twirling it around in her fingers. Marvin held it between her fingers when she closed her eyes and relaxed. The focus was all she needed to trigger her other possible power- daydreaming was in her blood. They needed to get out of that cell- not just for the purpose of escaping but to find out where the kids were and stop the takeover from happening. With the mental image of the key to the cell still fresh in her mind, Marvin imagined how the weight of it would feel in her hand. She thought it was ironic that the key also seemed to be shaped like tentacles, but if it would get them out then it was enough.

They were stuck, yes. This was all a nightmare, yes. But every time Marvin found herself in a bad place in the past, she would always daydream of a faraway planet in hopes of visiting one day. Some dreams could come true all on their own, but most had to be made true.

She just had to focus.

“Dream,” Marvin quietly muttered to herself. “Dream a better dream.”

Marvin opened her eyes and proudly held up a material daydream.

“Like this one?” asked Marvin waving a perfect copy of Ms. Granada’s key in her hand.

Milo’s jaw dropped as he watched Marvin crouched down and put her copy of the key to use. He hadn’t yet processed the fact that he watched his best from friend elementary school demonstrated a power that he never knew she had. Sure enough, the key fit and the cell door immediately rose to clear the way out.

“Come on,” Marvin waved everyone out. “Let’s go!”

After the first few seconds of shock wore off, the sidekicks began running out the door and into the hallway. Questions about what was going on could be asked later.

“Marvin,” Milo tried to catch up with Marvin when they reached the corner of the hall. “Marvs, I never doubted you for a second!”

Marvin whipped her head at Milo and hissed for him to be quiet when she nodded in the direction of the hallway before them. Approaching footsteps could be heard right before the four ducked down and hid behind the columns of the wall. A small group of guards walked by quietly, and by luck, they continued to do so without looking down to where the sidekicks and Marvin escaped.

The quartet remained still and waited before deciding that the coast was clear.

“Can I ask a quick question?” Milo raised his hand.

“Can it wait?” Marvin pulled her bangs out of her face. “There’s not much time.”

“How is it possible that you suddenly have powers, and you’re also suddenly trained for this type of situation?” asked Milo.

“Thank your abuelita for the basic training part,” said Marvin, then shrugging. “I can’t answer the powers part. But there’s not a lot of time!”

Marvin began to summarize all the important details to the sidekicks as quickly as she could. She began by saying that their younger sisters were all in the same group but after being caught they were divided, and Marvin wasn’t sure where they were being kept. What their biggest probable was, was the takeover.

“I was with Missy and the others before I got caught,” Marvin informed. "But they managed to hijack one of the alien ships, so they're probably somewhere up here too."

“I’m not doing anything or going anywhere until I’m sure that my sweet sister is safe,” Cadence put bluntly.

“She’s right,” Milo agreed. “We need to find the kids to make sure they’re okay.”

“Abuelita trained them too,” added Marvin. “They’re more than capable of taking care of each other. If we find them, then we can work together to stop the takeover.”

“Maybe we should split up,” suggested Riptide. “Half will go one way, and the other half can find one of the objectives. Odds are that it won’t be hard to find each other. Just follow the fighting sounds.”

“Great idea, Pinky!” Milo patted Riptide on the shoulder.

From under his helmet, Riptide was very clearly growling in annoyance. He was more annoyed with Milo not pointing out his hair again, but also for him trying to be the leader when he knew where that landed them.

“Me and Marvs-“ Milo started to say.

“Marvin and I will go one way,” Riptide cut Milo off. “And you and Cadence can go the other. We’ll regroup when something exciting happens. Any questions?”

There were several questions from the other three. Cadence’s problem was that they just made her look like a last resort and she wasn’t happy with it. Milo was going to argue with Riptide right until he watched Riptide pull on the corner of his mouth to show Milo his jagged teeth. And Marvin likely had the most questions, but she was in too much shock to ask them. She didn’t argue when Riptide held her arm and started pulling them away from the other half of the group.

“Great,” Riptide announced. “See you guys later!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really, really appreciate everyone who's been reading this fic. It's given me more confidence in my writing and at the same time, it's been a lot of fun. I'm sad that the fic is nearing the end, but I have been having some ideas for a possible sequel if anyone's interested in reading it, but for now, I hope everyone enjoys the next chapters I have to offer.  
> As always, leave a comment, kudos, and bookmark if you like what you've read and I hope to see you all in the next chapter(s).   
> :)


	10. Beware the Riptide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the chapter! :)

Of all the things that made Marvin’s heart rate skyrocket, this may be at the top of the list.

She just met Riptide. She met Riptide, and they were walking through the hallway of an alien ship together. She and Riptide were walking together after Riptide quickly said that she would be his partner to find the kids or find the pyramid and start figuring out how to stop the takeover. Riptide pulled on her arm when he walked them away from the other two. His grip was so strong.

Marvin tried to keep herself from fangirling when she smacked herself with a reality check. There was a flash of humiliation when she realized how rude she must have looked when she ignored Riptide’s handshake.

_"Hey, I’m sorry about earlier-“_

Marvin stopped. So did Riptide.

“You can go first,” offered Marvin.

“No, it’s fine,” insisted Riptide. “After you.”

Mentally telling herself to keep it together, Marvin awkwardly held out her hand.

“I didn’t mean to be mean earlier- I just felt like we shouldn’t waste any time on getting out of there,” explained Marvin. “Hi, I’m Marvin. It’s really cool to get to meet you!”

If Milo had been within range to hear Marvin’s thoughts, he would have lost track of how many times Marvin was calling herself an idiot in the back of her mind. Somehow talking to the kids had been easy- maybe it was because Marvin was already familiar with Missy and that made it easier. But the first impression she had made in the cell just minutes earlier was not one of Marvin’s greatest moments. And now that Milo wasn’t there with her, it was just a reminder of how bad Marvin was at talking with other people.

It surprised her when Riptide shook her hand back.

“Riptide,” he nodded and half-grinned.

Marvin’s heart fluttered. If this day truly was a dream, this wasn’t the part when she wanted to wake up.

“Is that your real name?” asked Marvin, regretting it and pulling her hand back. “Sorry, sorry… I know that’s none of my business, I was just curious.”

Riptide stared at Marvin for a moment. In all honestly, she looked pretty average by what he’s observed from other normal teens on Earth. Besides her own version of a frenzy on Milo back in the cell, Riptide didn’t view Marvin as threatening. He was curious about the crystal around her neck, however.

“Uh, let’s shut down the takeover first,” said Riptide. “And then I’ll answer that question.”

That was completely fine by Marvin. She was still in shock with everything going on that she didn’t stop to think about how that meant if the time came, she’d have to use her newfound powers to fight. Half of her powers, at least. The worst thing that could possibly happen, would be that they don’t work when she needs them. Or she slips and falls on her own ice. Marvin suddenly felt terrified of how her parents would react if she returned home without the crystal heart.

“Oh, and sorry about earlier,” Riptide apologized while they walked.

“For…?” Marvin tilted her head.

“For pulling you away from the group back there,” said Riptide. “I know you know Milo more, but after the day I’ve had with those two… someone would have gotten mauled within five minutes.”

That was violent, Riptide knew that. He cringed and waited for Marvin to show some sign of discomfort, but she didn’t.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ready to beat the crap out of Milo more than once today,” admitted Marvin. “After everything he put me through today, I think I need to make some new friends.”

“Same,” said Riptide.

The two stopped and shared a look with one another. A type of look that went from surprise, and they turned to maybe optimistic. It was the one real moment of peace either one had that day, and it was quickly short-lived when there was a racket coming from the end of the hallway.

“Did you hear that?” asked Marvin.

It sounded like typical fighting noises. People getting punched and kicked, knocked to the ground, and then there were sounds of despair. There was yelling back and forth, and what Marvin thought was Missy giving hasty instructions before a deep and utter growl echoed from the walls. Riptide recognized that growl immediately and started sprinting with Marvin trying to keep up. They didn’t have far to run before Riptide pivoted and stopped at the end of one hallway to stare at the calamity going on in front of him.

There was a group of alien guards apprehending the children of the other Heroics, and one by one they all tried to run away in fear before getting taken down and attacked by a little girl in a pink shirt and overalls.

“Is that…?” Marvin hesitated to proceed forward.

“Guppy!” Riptide shouted as he ran toward the frenzy.

It was his little sister he promised to pick up at the end of the day before the invasion, and witnessing that she was using her shark frenzy to fight back made Riptide feel a deep sense of pride in Guppy. It was only a split second when Riptide stopped in amazement to watch his little sister make him and their parents proud before he looked behind her to find that two guards were attempting to sneak up on her.

All at once, Riptide felt his instincts taking over. And he didn’t plan on holding back.

Suddenly a growl much deeper and menacing filled the hallway and caused everyone to stop and look up. For a moment, it looked like one of the Heroics had escaped and were about to start a serious bad guy beat down. The only person in the hallway who not only didn’t fear the source of the growling but also recognized who had come to rescue was Guppy.

“EJ!” she stopped kicking one guard in the ribs and threw her arms into the air with delight.

Although he was happy to see that his little sister wasn’t just okay but handling herself quite well, Riptide made sure that the guards could see his teeth. He reached up to the side of his head and began to remove his helmet.

“Guppy,” warned Riptide, “cover your eyes for a second.”

All of the present children but Guppy began to share panicked looks before they quickly pressed themselves as close to the walls as they could. The guards appeared to be paralyzed, looking at one another for some sort of clue if they should try to fight off the sidekick or run before it was too late.

Guppy on the other hand crossed her arms and pouted behind her sunglasses.

“This is about to get really violent, Gup,” Riptide snarled. “Seriously, don’t look!”

There was no escaping the current once pulled in by the riptides.

Still pouting, Guppy sat down with her back to the wall and smacked her hands over her glasses right as Riptide’s helmet went flying through the air. It collided with the head of one of the guards who tried sneaking up from behind Guppy, who sneaked a peek through her fingers when Riptide’s growls became louder- closer. She looked up just in time to watch her big brother tackle the two guards unconscious to the ground and begin chasing the guards trying to run for their lives.

“Go, Riptide!” cheered Guppy.

Riptide had taken the fight- _frenzy_ to the end of the hallway where the guards now tried to use their tentacles to even the odds. This was a horrible mistake one guard learned the hard way shortly after Riptide grabbed them by their appendages and began to use said guard to beat another guard.

“Guppy,” shouted Riptide, “I told you not to look!”

Guppy sat on the floor with her sunglasses now pulled to the top of her head. She playfully threw her little fists in front of her, pretending to help her big brother fight the guards off just like their father would. Guppy continued to cheer for Riptide as the other kids slowly turned away, happy that at least the guards would no longer be a problem at this point. The only other person who hadn’t looked away was Marvin.

She stopped at the hall entry where she followed Riptide and arrived not long after his frenzy went into effect. The entire time she stood in the middle of the hallway in awe, she started thinking that maybe all of the turmoil she had to endure that day was finally worth it. Marvin was witnessing a shark frenzy right before her eyes and she didn’t want to look away, she just wished that she had brought her phone to be able to record it. For a moment, Marvin had stopped and watched with a dreamy daze on her face. Nothing could ruin this moment for her.

Not even an attempted surprise attack from the guards now trying to sneak up on her.

Marvin wasn’t that out of it where she wasn’t paying much attention to her surroundings, so when she heard footsteps from behind her she instantly jumped with her heart pounding rapidly inside her chest. It took almost no time at all for Marvin to recognize the guards like the ones who separated her from the kids and threw her into the cell with the three sidekicks. And one of them had her crystal heart hanging from his hand. With motivation at its best right in front of her, Marvin knew what she needed to do.

She stood her ground and took off her glasses.

“Let’s do this,” Marvin announced, tucking her glasses into her hoodie pocket.

Unimpressed, the guards stood there and exchanged glances. They chuckled at what they assumed would be a comical, powerless attempt at fighting back from Marvin. Seeing as they were genuinely curious to see what she’d do, they waved for her to make the first move.

Marvin willed herself to focus. She waved her hand in a circular motion in front of her face when she held her hand out in front of her, then blowing across her palm. Right before her eyes a rainbow of butterflies materialized and began fluttering towards the guards, who all stood in their places and laughed. Good, it was just what Marvin wanted them to do. She closed her eyes only briefly and she opened them as a loud, rapid buzzing began echoing off the walls around her. The rainbow of butterflies immediately transformed into a swarm of large, angry wasps.

The guards weren’t laughing anymore.

They tried running away to no avail when the swarm quickly caught up and began to surround them. Stinging or hurting them was never Marvin’s intention. It was more of a scare tactic to distract them so that some of the wasps could swipe the crystal heart away from the guard and return it to her. As the rest of the swarm chased the guards away, Marvin couldn’t help but smile when she found that her daydreaming was actually coming along quite well. She held out her hand when the wasp returned her crystal heart to her.

Finally, Marvin was beginning to feel like a superhero.

“Woah…”

Marvin looked up when she began placing the crystal heart around her neck where it belonged. From around the opposite corner, Milo and Cadence carefully made their way out into the open, clearly having witnessed the swarm that Marvin just willed into reality. She pulled her glasses back out and slid them over her face, realizing that looking cool was pointless if she couldn’t see two feet in front of her. She chuckled nervously, not sure what to say. Then she heard Riptide walk up from behind her. Unlike Milo and Cadence who looked apprehensive to get too close to Marvin, Riptide was visibly awed.

“Nice job,” Riptide held out his fist.

It took a bit for Marvin to realize that Riptide was instigating a fist-bump.

“Thanks,” she said, feeling like she just won the lottery.

Proud of herself, Marvin turned down to the other end of the corridor to find that the children were no longer pressed up against the wall to avoid the previous frenzy. It wasn’t hard to figure out where they were when Marvin looked closer to the chamber containing the massive pyramid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a comment, kudos, and bookmark if you like what you've read, and I'll see you all in the next chapter :)


	11. The Final Battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the chapter!

“Is everyone okay?” Marvin called out.

The four began jogging down the walkway toward the metal pyramid where the takeover countdown was only minutes away from commencing. As they hurried closer Marvin noted that Wildcard and Face-maker were missing from the rest of the group. But before Marvin could ask where they were, Milo was the first to point out the obvious bombshell.

“Wait, what the-“ Milo began to say but quickly stopped himself before glancing to the kids. “What the heck!?”

“Ojo’s one of them,” Missy confirmed. “She’s an alien.”

To say that this event was shocking was an understatement. It was more so a punch to the gut to the three sidekicks who barely knew anything about Ojo other than she had been with their younger sisters for the majority of the day. While trying not to stare at the purple tentacles now revealed from the little girl’s back, the three sidekicks hurried past Ojo and met up with the girls their concerns revolved around that day.

Cadence reached Acapella first. She touched her shoulder and gave a silent look making sure that her sister was okay. After Acapella nodded reassuringly, Cadence stood beside her. They both stood tall with their shoulders back and their posture ready for a performance just as their mother had taught them.

Riptide had already known Guppy was okay having witnessed her frenzy, but he still crouched down to give her a quick hug that was more for his sake than hers. He was just happy that she wasn’t just okay, but she was just as capable of fighting back as any other Heroic. When Riptide stood back up, he held out his hand for Guppy to take. She held it before stepping protectively in front of her big brother.

The next sibling reunion was between the two Morenos. It was more awkward for Milo than when Marvin started to let him have it back in the cell. Milo hurried over to Missy with his arms open and ready to hug her, but then stopped when she raised her brow at him. Milo knew she was still understandably upset with him breaking his promise; they could talk about that later. In the meantime, Milo was content with standing behind Missy and letting her take the wheel from here.

Marvin was an only child, and her parents were back on Earth, so she stood next to Milo. He was really the only one there she was truly familiar with. Although Milo wasn’t looking directly at Marvin, Marvin looked at his face for just a fraction of a second. That was all she needed to recognize the scared mixed with a nervy expression as he stared at the danger ahead of them. Turning her head ahead away, Marvin reached for Milo’s hand and gave it a reassuring hold. It was comforting when Milo returned the grasp.

“What’s the plan, Missy?” asked Milo.

“Two of you are missing!” Marvin did a quick headcount. “Where are the other two?”

Right on cue, Face-Maker ran through the doorway to the chamber. He paused next to Ojo and gave everyone a greeting while out of breath, then he quickly ran to join the rest of the group after he had noticed the tentacles coming out of Ojo’s back.

“Wildcard and Face-Maker teamed up,” Missy explained. “Ojo gave herself away earlier in one of her drawings when we made it out of the tunnel, so we had to think fast.”

Marvin suddenly remembered the unusual whispering between Missy and Wildcard earlier that day.

“Face-Maker made himself look like Wildcard so that the real Wildcard could take down the shields to the pyramid,” summarized Wheels.

With that, every ounce of annoyance Marvin had felt that day had blown away.

“Wow,” said Marvin. “I’m actually really impressed. Nice thinking, Missy! I’ll have to give Wildcard an apology the next time I see him.”

“He can hear you over the surveillance system of the ship,” said Wheels.

“Wildcard,” Marvin cupped her hands around her mouth, “awesome work!”

 _"Thanks, Marvin!”_ Wildcard’s voice came over the loudspeaker. _“You guys hurry up and spot the countdown, I’ll take care of the grownups!”_

Missy quickly caught the four teens up to speed on what they needed to do- Wheels just needed to program a kill-code into a disk that Noodle would help insert into the port directly below the timer at the top of the pyramid. In the meantime, the rest needed to make sure he had the time to get everything done. That meant that if it came to it, they would have to fight Ojo.

“Pfft, what’s she gonna do?” Milo nodded to the little girl before them. “Draw up some monsters to stop us?”

Ojo grinned mischievously when she looked down at her tablet. She began to scribble quickly onto the screen before a small creature emerged and jumped to the floor. The scribble monster began to grow to a threatening size as Ojo began to draw herself a small army, and the others were glaring at Milo.

“You just had to say it,” said Marvin, pulling her hand back.

“Guys!” Missy redirected everyone’s attention. “There’s no more time to argue. It’s time to be a hero!”

The first of the children to charge into action was Slo-Mo. He slowly began charging toward the scribble monster when suddenly the boy delivered a quick and powerful punch. Marvin couldn’t believe what she was seeing- right in front of her she watched as Slo-Mo was no longer trapped in a state of slow motion, but he was now up to speed and successfully holding his own with the scribble monster. When Marvin turned to see if any of the kids were reacting, she witnessed Rewind using his power to aid Fast Forward in helping Slo-Mo. It was all nothing short of incredible.

“Now that’s teamwork!” cheered Marvin.

“Watch out!!”

Marvin barely had the time to register to feel the back of her hoodie being grabbed before she was practically thrown to the side by Milo. Had it not been for the fact that the scribble monster was too large for anyone with eyes to miss, Marvin might have held that one against Milo. But Missy was right- this was no time to argue or fight with each other when there was a more important fight right in front of them. Sadly, Milo and Marvin both knew that if they stood any chance of fighting the scribble monster, then they had to gain more distance. The two friends locked hands and began to run wherever the path for them was clear. They just had to get away before they became that monster’s snack.

Their necessary retreat didn’t go unnoticed. Riptide had looked upright as his internal radar shouted at him that danger was getting too close.

“Riptide!” Cadence shouted from the area where she stood with Acapella. “Go help them! I’ll stay and make sure everyone here is okay!”

Had the order been given to him under any other possible circumstance, Riptide wouldn’t have hesitated. But this time was different. This time he was in the mix of a battle and his little sister was right there with him. Riptide started to ask himself what his parents would have said or what they’d do if they have to leave when suddenly a hard shove against the side of his leg broke Riptide from that train of thought.

“Hurry!” Guppy pushed Riptide away. “Hurry and help Marvin!”

Riptide almost didn’t believe what he was seeing. Then he reminded himself who their parents were and with that fact, Riptide knew just how capable Guppy was to handle herself.

“Remind them why they need to stay out of the ocean,” Riptide held out his fist for Guppy to bump.

Taking out her blue sunglasses and flicking them over her eyes, Guppy gave her big brother a quick fist-bump right before they both sprang into action. Riptide began fighting a scribble monster that only briefly stood in his way before he punted it down below and raced around to the other side of the pyramid. As he did that, Guppy tested out the extent of her hydrokinesis after Wheels had pointed out that the metal surrounding the pyramid was actually liquid.

“So, do you think this pyramid’s covered in mercury or-“

“SHUT UP AND RUN, MILO!”

The scribble monster hunting them down was relentless. Every step forward felt more like two steps back when they were suddenly forced to run across one of the walkways with an unpleasant distance below them. For whatever reason without a barrier on the side of the walkway made their legs feel more like jello, and the fear of falling intensified. They couldn’t just keep running though, Marvin knew that and so did Milo.

Trying to run was the reason he had been caught by the aliens. And running away felt like the only thing Marvin had done that day.

She tried to think of something- anything. There was no way she could daydream a monster of the same enormous size to fight the scribble monster when all she could currently make was butterflies and wasps. Her power was still new, and she didn’t have a full grasp on it. Marvin remembered the training session and how she could barely even use her ice power with the help of the crystal heart. And then she remembered the drawing of herself that Ojo had drawn right before her training began.

Marvin suddenly let go of Milo’s hand. Confused, Milo pivoted around to find Marvin standing tall to face the scribble monster as it began to prowl closer to them.

“Marvin, what are you doing!?” questioned Milo.

Marvin removed her glasses and shoved them behind her to Milo.

“Stand back, Milo,” Marvin clenched her fists. “I can do this!”

Marvin’s fists were shaking at her sides after Milo took her glasses. She took a deep breath while trying to maintain the stern look on her face when she only briefly waited for Milo’s response to what might be the stupidest thing he’d witness from Marvin.

“Of course, you can,” Milo’s voice sounded rattled. “You’re a hero now.”

The air around them dropped significantly and Milo felt goosebumps all over his arms. From behind Marvin, he was able to see a blue energy radiating around her hands. What he couldn’t see was her crystal heart glowing just as brightly when Marvin raised her hand above her to the scribble monster right when it prepared to pounce. The same moment it did, an icy blast shot from Marvin’s hand and the scribble monster began to instantly freeze right in front of them. In just seconds, the scribble monster was turned into more an a scribble ice sculpture rather than a monster.

Needless to say, Milo was in awe.

“Woah,” Milo looked at Marvin. “Are you okay?”

Marvin was still when she lowered her hand. She wasn’t saying anything, so Milo started to walk in front of her when he saw that Marvin was holding her eyes closed. When she opened them, Marvin blinked her eyes three times before she stared up at the frozen scribble monster in front of them. Then she turned and looked at Milo with the first genuine smile he’s seen from Marvin in a long time.

“I’m awake,” Marvin’s voice shook as if she were about to laugh or cry. “Milo, I’m awake! I’m the Dreamcatcher!”

Milo smiled back. He handed Marvin her glasses.

“Heck yeah you are,” said Milo. “You’re a hero now.”

Marvin glanced over Milo’s shoulders and waved her hand.

“You are too,” said Marvin. “Now go kick some butt.”

Milo opened his mouth to ask what Marvin meant by that when he felt the weight behind his back shift. The weight felt like his sword would have if he had it and it was never taken away by the aliens. Reaching over his shoulder and grasping the leather handle in his hand proved otherwise. He removed an identical copy of his sword from the sheath and stared at the blade in amazement, and then up to Marvin.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” admitted Milo, “but I like it! Thanks, Marv!”

Without another exchange, Milo ran off ready to finally put his training and sparring sessions into good use. Putting her glasses back over her face, Marvin grinned when she saw how happy it made Milo do some butt-kicking and her work against the scribble monsters as he made his way back to the other side of the pyramid.

Marvin was completely unaware of the scribble monster climbing over the one she just froze as it readied to go in for the attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sad that the fic is going to be coming to a close soon, but I'm really happy that I was able to write something that people could enjoy. There's going to be an epilogue so the end isn't too close, but I'll be sure to make sure everything is done and ready by next week. Again, a massive thank you to everyone who's been sticking with the fic and as always, don't forget to leave a comment, kudos, and bookmark if you enjoyed what you've read. I look forward to seeing you all in the next chapters :)


	12. We Could Be Heroes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took forevverrrr... haha, please enjoy :)  
> "We Can Be Heroes"- David Bowie (The Haley Reinhart cover pulled me through this chapter)

This was the part in most monster movies where Marvin and Milo would be screaming for the character to turn around and acknowledge the creature trying to sneak up on.

Marvin had never sympathized with those characters she’d enjoy making fun of until she found herself to be in that exact same position. By then time she looked over her shoulder and saw the scribble monster sneaking up on her it had already been too late. Marvin started to stumble backward with a scream caught in her throat, but the shock of two things happening all at once prevented her from making a sound. The first happened just a split second before the other when the scribble monster unhinged its jaws like a snake, and the second was a deep and menacing growl that came as a warning call right before Riptide lunged down on top of the scribble monster’s head.

The scribble monster was slammed down against the walkway before Riptide leaped forward almost directly in front of Marvin. Riptide rose up to his feet in a swift pivot so that he was facing the scribble monster when it began to push itself back up. With his hands spread out at his sides, Riptide readied himself to use his claws as soon as the scribble monster was dumb enough to make the next move. From behind him, Marvin could hear Riptide growling and she wondered if his teeth were as jagged as the news broadcasters made them out to be. Either way, Marvin was frozen where she stood, kicking herself for leaving her phone back on earth.

At most, all she could tell herself to do was keep it together when Riptide proceeded to charge and frenzy towards the scribble monster, whom for a very brief second had known they made a mistake just by the look on its face. The fight itself was more of Riptide letting off some steam from every last thing that annoyed or frustrated him that day before the scribble monster retreated and dissolved back into nothing. Once it was gone, Riptide was still breathing hard. He growled quietly, flicking his claws to relax his fingers once he was sure that the scribble monster was actually gone.

 _“Woah,”_ Marvin tried to contain herself the best that she could. “Shark-like reflexes, strength, and internal radar. That was so flipping awesome!”

Riptide’s rage immediately faded away when he turned around and witnessed Marvin practically jumping up and down while she continued.

“That was amazing!” beamed Marvin. “You’re so cool!”

The two quickly became flustered, but for two different reasons. Marvin was flustered, knowing that she just fangirled over Riptide directly in front of him like a fool. And Riptide was feeling flustered because this was the first time someone had praised him like that.

“It was nothing,” Riptide scratched his head and turned away, red-faced. “Just another temper tantrum.”

Marvin tugged on her hair and adjusted her glasses.

“Still pretty cool though,” Marvin grinned.

Before the chance to say anything else could be taken, the sound of a roar echoing on the other side of the pyramid caught their attention. They began to run back to the pyramid and back to the rest of the group when what they saw made them stop. In the air circling two more scribble monsters was an enormous metallic shark. And riding on top of that shark was a little girl in blue sunglasses.

“Is that your sister?” Marvin turned to Riptide, but he was too speechless to answer.

It wasn’t just the realization that the metal surrounding the pyramid was in fact liquid or the fact that Guppy was actually riding on top of a giant liquid metal shark that stunned Riptide. What amazed him was that Guppy wasn’t just getting a better grip on her hydrokinesis, but she was finding new ways to use her power at the same time! Once the two scribble monsters looked up to see the metallic apex predator prowling towards them, they cowered fearfully before Guppy pointed downward and the shark took them out in one big bite.

Riptide and Marvin couldn’t help but cheer for Guppy.

“Way to go, Gup!”

“Go, Guppy!”

Marvin was still jumping up and down while cheering when Riptide started running over to his little sister. Guppy had just climbed off her metal shark and waved for it to swim away when she looked up to see Riptide at the end of the walkway, smiling with pride at her. Guppy smiled back and pushed her sunglasses over her head before running over to Riptide.

“EJ, did you see that?” shouted Guppy. “Did you see that? Did you see me do that?”

“Guppy, that was awesome!!” Riptide crouched down to give Guppy a double high-five.

Getting to watch Riptide’s interaction with Guppy was another thing Marvin was glad she made it through the day to get to see, but that moment was short-lived when something pulled their attention to the very front of the pyramid. There was singing- singing that was coming from Acapella as she floated above the walkway in the air while Cadence stood below her, singing backup.

The song was one to be recognized as _“Heroes”_ by none other than David Bowie. Unlike any other song sung by the two Vox sisters, this song carried a different type of melody to it. One that sounded hopeful, but also bittersweet- as if there was a hard choice to be made but it was also the right choice; the only choice that could be made in order for the day to be saved once and for all.

Milo had just swung his sword at a scribble monster before it retreated to reveal a scene that made Milo’s heart stop. He lowered his sword before it fell through his fingers and landed on the ground with a loud clang. There was no way he was actually seeing this happen… Missy was in the middle of a tightrope from Noodle’s arm with a scribble monster prowling at both sides preventing any chance of escape. Missy swayed a bit as she inched closer to the center of the line.

“MISSY!” Milo sprinted down the walkway closest to where he could reach his sister. “Missy!!”

From the other side closest to the pyramid, Marvin stood next to Riptide and Guppy in disbelief. The distance below was anything but safe if Missy should happen to fall. Nobody wanted to see that happen- Marvin didn’t want to see that happen. She raised her hand ready to create a bridge or anything Missy could use to get away, but then Missy looked up directly at Marvin. The silent look said it all, and Marvin nodded before she lowered her hand.

“What the heck is she doing?” asked Riptide.

“She’s leading by example,” said Marvin, taking off her glasses.

Milo was still running to try to get to Missy. He would have tackled one of the scribble monsters into the drop below himself if Cadence hadn’t grabbed his arm. She prevented him from going any further and when Milo turned to demand an explanation, Cadence continued to sing with Acapella.

 _“We can be heroes,”_ sang Cadence, _“just for one day.”_

Milo turned his head to look at Missy; he turned back to Cadence when her hand moved from his arm and intertwined with his.

 _“We can be heroes,”_ Cadence smiled, reassuring as the song went on.

_“We're nothing, and nothing will help us,”_

Riptide looked down when he felt something brushing up against his leg. He found that Guppy was clinging to his side, not wanting to watch what happened next. Milo on the other hand slowly looked up to find Missy looking back at him, still steadying herself on the line.

_“Maybe we're lying, then you better not stay,”_

Crouching down, Riptide hugged Guppy to let her know that everything would be okay. When Riptide looked up, Marvin was standing with her hands held tightly together. She glanced down at Riptide with the same unsure looks before they turned to see how Milo was reacting to it all. He was clenching one hand tightly into a fist while Cadence was holding onto the other. Then Milo bit the corners of his mouth and nodded to Missy.

_“But we could be safer, just for one day…”_

Missy nodded back, and then she fell.

Milo couldn’t take it anymore- he started running to the edge of the walkway while screaming his sister’s name. Sure enough, the scribble monsters took their own fall as well and had disappeared by the time they crashed against the ground below. Milo didn’t want to look down to see what may have become of Missy, but before he could he watched as Noodle pulled Missy back up to the walkway while the others helped her up. Seeing this, Milo stopped in his tracks with his chest pounding hard.

When Missy glanced up and noticed Milo, she shrugged her shoulders and chuckled nervously thinking that Milo might threaten to tell their father. But instead, Milo hurried over to Missy and hugged her.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again,” Milo tried to catch his breath, “please. My poor heart can’t take it!”

Noticing that all her newfound friends were spectating this, Missy passed it off with a laugh and hugged Milo back. She was glad when Milo released her without a fuss.

“No promises,” said Missy. “I had to lead by example.”

Milo laughed and patted Missy’s shoulder. Although, his laugh sounded more like he was about to lose his mind than thinking Missy had made a joke.

“Dad’s gonna be proud,” said Milo. “You did what I couldn’t. Nice job, Miss.”

With that, all the previous turmoil between the two Moreno siblings that day had been washed away. Now they both understood the two sides of the coin, and at the same time, they learned a thing or two.

“Uh, guys?” called Wheels. “We still have a problem…”

Everyone turned to the young prodigy, and then looked down into the chasm to see what he was looking at. There at the bottom, after a very long way down was a rectangular disk on top of one of the platforms.

“If we’re going to stop the takeover,” Wheels looked up, “then we need that disk!”

Marvin began to hurry over to the rest of the group while Riptide jogged next to her with Guppy pulling him forward by the hand.

“Can’t Noodle just stretch his arm down there for it?” Milo questioned Missy.

“Sorry, guys…” grumbled Noodle. “I’m all stretched out.”

A quick examination showed that the boy's arms closely resembled worn-out strands of gum. Noodle winced while he stared down at his arms, they were taking much longer to retract than they normally would as a likely result of using them more today than he had before.

“It’s okay,” Marvin crouched down next to Noodle, “you’ve done enough.”

“How much time is left?” asked Cadence.

Riptide turned over his shoulder to look up at the pyramid’s timer. He nearly had a heart attack when he saw how much the numbers had shrunk.

“We’re out of time!” Riptide motioned to the timer. “One minute!!”

The digital numbers had reached 59 before they continued their journey down to 0. Now the stakes were higher and they all knew it, but their options with how to proceed forward were limited. The distance between the walkway and the ground below was too far to jump without seriously getting hurt, and even if one of them could make it down then there was the question of how they would get back up. But it was a risk they’d have to take if it meant saving the planet.

What happened next made the three sidekicks do a doubletake and make a face when they thought they saw a boy slowly, ever so slowly seem to float to the bottom. It was Slo-Mo! And his power was allowing him to slow down the force of gravity itself. With this glimmer of hope, most of the group were able to cheer for Slo-Mo in hopes that he would reach the disk in time. But the timer had already neared closer to 30.

“Everybody stay calm,” Milo announced. “WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!”

Missy shook her head, wondering how it was possible for Milo to be the oldest. Marvin chose not to acknowledge him while Riptide and Guppy continued to cheer for Slo-Mo to reach the bottom. Acapella turned to Cadence just in time to watch her older sister squint at Milo while shaking her head. Cadence peeled off one of her long gloves as she marched over to Milo as he continued to lose his mind. He didn’t see her coming when Cadence held his shoulder, then smacking him harshly across the face with her glove.

“Silence!” Cadence pulled her glove back on.

Milo rubbed his face, well aware that he needed that.

“He made it!” said Face Maker. “He’s got the disk!”

“Okay, but how is he going to get back up here?” Cadence didn’t mean to be the pessimist, but the flight wasn’t a part of Slo-Mo’s power.

“Wildcard!” Missy shouted. “We need you!”

“Got it,” Wildcard responded over the intercoms. “Teleportation, go!”

Before anyone could blink, Wildcard suddenly popped up from out of nowhere at the bottom of the chasm next to Slo-Mo. As the children shouted for Wildcard to hurry, others looked back up to the pyramid’s timer to find that the number was even lower than before.

“Hurry up!” urged Marvin. “There’s almost 10 seconds left!”

Putting his arm around Slo-Mo while he held onto the disk, Wildcard announced that he would be using the power of flight before he did just that. He flew himself and Slo-Mo up to the platform, everyone waved and pleaded for them to hurry while there was still time left. When they reached the floor with everyone else, the disk was quickly handed to Noodle. With the stretch the boy had left, he stretched his arms to the port just below the timer.

But as soon as they felt hopeful that they had succeeded, they were overcome with dread as the timer hit 0 right as the disk was tossed inside. They were too late. As soon as the timer completed its countdown a loud buzzer echoed throughout the chamber when the pyramid began to glow in red. In addition to the intensity that was already coming down hard on everyone, the chamber doors suddenly slid open to reveal Ms. Granada marching in along with her security guards and the phony president.

To say that things definitely weren’t good would have been an understatement. The groups had one mission that meant the difference between saving their entire planet and having the Earth be enslaved by an alien race. But worst of all, every child there felt a deep root of shame that they had failed to save the world and they let their Heroic parents down.

“There’s gotta be something we can do!” Marvin tried.

It was a stupid thing to say, but they couldn’t just stand there and surrender. In between the approaching alien superiors and the pyramid glowing brighter, their options for the next move to make decreased by the nano-second. Before anyone could answer Marvin, a golden light began to emanate from a line in the pyramid.

Everyone was nearly blinded as they watch the line lower to the bottom of the pyramid until it became obvious that it was opening a door- something was about to come out! In the whirlwind of it all, the group was able to register the eleven figures beginning to emerge from inside. One would have assumed that now was the beginning of the takeover and those figures would be the beginning of the end, but the closer they walked toward the group was the more familiar they became.

It was the Heroics- it was their parents!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading and as always, leave a comment, kudos, and bookmark if you like what you've read. The next chapter will be the final one, but please stay tuned it will be up very soon today and I have some more things to say at the end of that one. See you all in the next chapter :)


	13. The Takeover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the final chapter but NOT my final upload. Please enjoy the chapter and read the notes at the end!   
> :')

At the end of the day, Marvin was surprised that she had made it this far.

What started out as a normal day turned into her best friend talking her into playing babysitter to a bunch of super-kids. Somehow playing babysitter led to Marvin finding out she’s had powers the entire time, and unknowingly playing hero when the time came for it. There was just one thing…

At the very last second of the countdown when they thought all was lost, the pyramid suddenly opened up with a blinding light. Not knowing would be emerging from inside, the three sidekicks and Marvin stood protectively in front of the eleven kids ready to fight off whatever came out. But instead, they were faced with the abducted Heroics, who were never really abducted at all. The “takeover” they had been working effortlessly all day to prevent had been nothing more than a passing of the torch- a test on both the sidekicks and the children.

They had passed. And despite not having any affiliation with either of the two groups until today, Marvin had passed the test too.

“You really showed qualities of a true hero today,” Ojo stepped up in front of Marvin to congratulate her.

Marvin’s heart was racing yet again. Everything was happening so fast, and it was all only now sinking in as to how real it was. She turned to Milo blatantly.

“Did you know about this?” asked Marvin.

Milo gained a panicked look on his face. He kept glancing in between his father and Marvin when he shrugged his shoulders, then opening his mouth to say something until Mrs. Granada beat him to it.

“It is true that Marvin was not a part of the original plan,” she explained, looking down to Ojo so she would continue.

“But true heroes can adapt to whatever comes their way,” said Ojo. “No plan is ever completely perfect, but adjustments can be made along the way. And no, you don’t have to have a parent in the Heroics to become a hero. You already proved that wrong today.”

Without anything else being said, or Marvin getting the chance to argue, the gaps in the floors had been filled and the Heroics stepped away from the pyramid. All at once all of the children began racing toward their Heroic parents for a reunion long overdue. The one reunion Marvin found herself looking towards was the one between Guppy and Riptide and their parents.

Sharkboy and Lavagirl ran across the platform towards their children who were equally excited to see them. When the two halves of the family met halfway, Lavagirl knelt down and hugged Guppy tightly. Marvin wasn’t sure if she was about to watch Sharkboy and Riptide hug, but the interaction she did see was just as great in her book. Sharkboy came to a quick stop in front of Riptide and held up his hands before his son through a quick punch at each. Riptide swung his leg up high into the air nearly kicking Sharkboy in the side of the head, but Sharkboy caught his son’s foot and threw it back down to the floor. For a moment, Sharkboy stared quietly at his son when he realized that he was no longer wearing his helmet. Right when Riptide felt nervous about not having an explanation, he was surprised when Sharkboy ruffled his magenta hair and gave him a proud smile.

Riptide was able to hold his head up high with that approval.

When he was getting ready to greet his mom, Lavagirl beat Riptide to the interaction by grabbing his cheeks and immediately peppering kisses all over his face.

“Mom,” Riptide tried to pull away, “not in front of everyone! We talked about this!”

“No,” Lavagirl laughed, “you talked. And I didn’t listen!”

Lavagirl wasn’t listening. She laughed happily and placed one more kiss on top of her son’s forehead. Riptide decided that if any of his peers or the younger kids were staring, then none of it mattered. He was just happy with the outcome of the day.

“We’re so proud of you today, EJ,” Lavagirl held her son’s cheeks. “Both of you-“

Right as Lavagirl and Riptide turned to look down at Guppy and Sharkboy, they were just in time to witness little Guppy punting her father all the way across the room. Guppy gasped, hoping that she didn’t just hurt her father. It took less than a second for Sharkboy to scramble right back in front of his family, holding his arms out to Guppy and playfully roaring at her. Guppy giggled when Sharkboy scooped her up into the air and her giggling became joyful squealing when Riptide sneaked up from behind her to mimic their father’s roar. Lavagirl laughed again, so happy with the family she and her lifelong best friend were able to create. Who would have thought that the girl who believed she was only capable of destruction, could also create her own beautiful family?

Lavagirl kissed Guppy’s cheek and placed her hand on Riptide’s shoulder. She looked down at him and noticed that he wasn’t sharing the same joy as the rest of the family. Being a mom, it didn’t take Lavagirl long to figure out why that was. All she had to do was look over in the direction where Riptide was staring off into.

“Did you make a new friend today?” Lavagirl whispered into Riptide’s ear.

“Her name’s Marvin,” said Riptide. “Hey, do you and dad remember those stories you told me about Drool? Did that kid ended up giving the crystal heart to the girl from his class?”

Over in front of the pyramid was where the Morenos were appreciating their own reunion. Marvin’s parents clearly weren’t there, but Milo’s family was close enough to her own. She stood awkwardly with the Morenos when Abuelita Moreno smacked- patted Marvin a little too hard on the back. The poor girl nearly lost her footing, but when she did she looked up directly at Riptide. There was enough time for Marvin to grin sheepishly and wave at the boy she never thought she’d get the chance to fight alongside before someone nudged her arm.

“So…” Milo couldn’t stand still; he smiled awkwardly. “Do you think today’s outcome is worth forgiveness, or…?”

Marvin looked Milo up and down before she crossed her arms. She raised a brow over her glasses and waited for Milo to break.

“Okay, okay,” Milo surrendered, “I’m sorry I pulled you into something like this.”

“And?” added Marvin.

“And I’m sorry that I made you play the unpaid babysitter trying to protect a bunch of kids from a bunch of potentially dangerous aliens,” said Milo.

“And?”

“I’m sorry I’ve been giving you a rough couple of months on the friendship scale.”

“Keep going,” Marvin waved her hand.

Milo stood still for a moment. Despite the amount of enjoyment Marvin was gaining from this, it did hurt her to see the guilt spreading across her friend’s face. He was always optimistic when Marvin was the pessimist. All of those icy cold days where Marvin had to sit alone at lunch began to melt and turn into water under the bridge.

“I’m sorry that I’ve been the worst best friend ever,” said Milo. “I’m sorry, Marvin. I really am.” Milo opened his arms. “Friends?”

Marvin uncrossed her arms and allowed herself to smile.

“Friends,” she stepped up to Milo and returned the hug, then grumbling into his ear. _“But if you ever do something like this again, and you will have just made your first arch-enemy…!”_

“Sounds good to me!” said Milo, not really thinking much about that threat. “Thanks, by the way.”

Marvin pulled away and gave Milo a confused look.

“For…?” asked Marvin.

“For keeping your promise and making sure Missy and the other kids stayed safe,” said Milo, then holding up his hands. “I honestly didn’t know any of this would happen, but hey! Things all still worked out in the end, right?”

“Milo Moreno,” Marvin pointed a finger, “test or not, don’t ever ditch me at school and expect me to just magically have the capability to go through what I had to do today! I’m-“

“Uh, hi.”

Marvin and Milo turned to find Riptide standing in front of them. He was nervously scratching the back of his head before Marvin quickly pulled her hand away from Milo’s face.

“Hi!” Marvin smiled, oblivious that she may have sounded a little too happy.

Milo had been the only one to notice the stupid look on Marvin’s face. Right as he started to smirk and almost snicker, Abuelita Moreno came up from behind him and pinched his ear. She started to drag him away from the two while telling her grandson to introduce her to the Vox girl she had heard so much about. It was a shame that Marvin nor Riptide couldn’t hear Milo begging his grandmother to stay away from Cadence.

“We made a pretty good team,” Riptide started to say, “back there.”

“Oh,” said Marvin, “oh, yeah! We did make a good team, didn’t we?”

They two forced a laugh in agreement, but things quickly became awkward again. Neither of them knew what to say next. Instantly, Marvin felt her heart beginning to race as it had back in the holding cell not even an hour earlier. She could only think to say the first thing that popped into her mind, but that didn’t mean she thought before she spoke.

“I really like your hair,” said Marvin. “I mean- your helmet was good too, but I think you look a little better without it.”

Riptide blinked in surprise.

“You think so?” he reached up, touching his hair.

“Yeah,” Marvin nodded. “Now you look like a perfect combo of your parents. They looked really proud of you back there.”

Riptide paused for longer than he would have liked. He chuckled when he blushed, and when he smiled, he showed his jagged teeth. It was nice when someone didn’t stare or flinch whenever he smiled. If anything, it was good to hear from someone else that the things he previously worried about were never as bad as he imagined.

“So, um,” Marvin fidgeted with her glasses. “Can I, uh… can you tell me what your real name is now that we prevented an alien invasion that was never going to happen?”

She was already cringing before she finished her request. Marvin knew that they made a deal before the chaos really started, but that didn’t change the fact that she didn’t like asking for things. Especially not what should have been considered Riptide’s personal business- not hers.

“EJ.”

Marvin looked up.

“Huh?”

Riptide took a deep breath, raising his shoulders and letting them fall with the exhale.

“My real name’s Ethan Jr.,” Riptide went on. “But everyone who knows that just calls me EJ.”

When Marvin paused for a moment, Riptide almost felt stupid for opening up about it. He almost regretted it until Marvin smiled.

“EJ,” she repeated. “I like it. I think it’s pretty good secret-identity material.”

Riptide laughed.

“It’s not really a big secret when only three- four people know about it,” said Riptide.

The confusion only lasted for less than a second. Marvin opened her mouth to ask who the other three people who knew about his true identity, but just a glance behind Riptide was the only answer she needed. They were approaching from right behind them, and Marvin didn’t understand the definition of the word “starstruck” until that very moment.

That moment when she finally met her heroes.

“Hi,” Lavagirl greeted. “Is your dad’s name Max?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic has been so much fun for me to upload and write, and I just want to say a massive thank you to each and everyone who's been reading it! Although this is the final chapter to the fic, I will be uploading an epilogue this Friday. Again, thank you to everyone who's read and enjoyed this fic, it was an absolute pleasure to write it. All characters respectively belong to Robert Rodriguez except for my four OCs.  
> And as always, leave a comment, kudos, and bookmark if you've enjoyed reading this. I look forward to seeing you all in the epilogue :')


	14. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the epilogue :)

Max had jolted awake due to a clap of thunder that rattled his entire house.

Falling asleep at his work desk was a bad habit he was still trying to break even in his adulthood. He rubbed the strain at the back of his neck before pealing the sticky note from his face that had been glued there by dried saliva. Max crumbled the piece of paper and dropped it into the trashcan when he looked down at his watch for the time.

It was late- almost eleven at night.

Sighing, Max picked up his phone in hopes of seeing some sort of update. Instead, he saw his lock-screen displaying the picture he had taken of Marissa and Marvin from her last birthday. Marvin sat in behind her cake while Marissa stood next to her, crouched down with her arms around her daughter. It was a good day for the family, and it was the day he and Marissa decided there was no harm in passing the crystal heart down to Marvin.

Max placed his phone down, telling himself for the countless time that Marvin was safe. Whatever situation she had gotten herself into, she was smart enough to get herself out of it. He figured that if all that was true, he would have heard something from her by now. But seeing that there were no signs of an alien invasion outside, then the day must have been saved. Still, Max wanted to know where his daughter was. He wanted his little dreamcatcher to come home.

Before Max stood up, he glanced down and noticed the pile of unfinished sketches on his desk. All of them were depicting Marvin in different settings, yet Max didn’t remember drawing any of them. Maybe he had dreamed them; he always wrote and illustrated his dreams in journals as he grew up, but he started falling out of that habit when he entered art school. Out of curiosity, Max picked up the drawings and began to flip through them.

The first was of Marvin and Marissa during their walk to school. They ranged from Marvin standing in Mr. Minus’s classroom, Marvin staring up at a TV as the Heroics were abducted, and then to her racing down the street on her bike. Frowning, Max began to flip more quickly through the drawings to see Marvin trying to shoot ice from her hand, sitting alone in a garden, and then standing in front of a set of massive purple tentacles at the edge of the woods. Max skipped over more drawings to find one sketch of Marvin in which there were butterflies, then wasps flying from her hand. Another was of her without her glasses as she stood in front of a huge monster as it was being frozen solid; the crystal heart was around Marvin’s neck and shining like a star.

Max stood up from his desk when he turned to the very last sketch. He could make out a sketch of Marvin while in front of her stood two tall figures- one outlined in pink and the other in blue. Max figured that must have been when he passed out, seeing that the figures had no noticeable features where they could be recognized. It was right when Max thought he may have had a good guess as to who the two figures were when his train of thought crashed. Dropping the sketches, Max was sure he heard a loud racket noise coming from the kitchen.

Knowing that he was the only one in the house after Marissa decided to visit her father, Max’s mind instantly went to the possibility that there was an intruder in his house. He slowly started walking towards the doorway and out into the hallway. From his end of the hall, he could see that the lights in the kitchen were turned on and there was still some sort of noise- Max thought he heard voices whispering back and forth, but they were difficult to place an age or gender. Now Max was positive that someone had broken into his home, and they had chosen the wrong day to do it. Quietly making his way over to the basket next to the front door, Max pushed the umbrellas aside before he pulled out an old aluminum baseball bat that had originally belonged to Marvin; but she decided sports weren’t for her shortly after entering high school.

Max continued to sneak down the hallway towards the kitchen when he stopped next to the doorway. He pressed his back against the wall and braced himself, hoping that he wouldn’t have to physically fight someone. Then with one swift move, Max jumped into the doorway of the kitchen. He yelled out and held the bat in a position threatening to swing. The same second he did that was when Marvin jumped. She dropped the hot tray of cookies onto the stovetop when she shrieked. For a moment, the two stood still and stared back at one another until the shock wore off and Max dropped his bat onto the floor.

Awkwardly, Marvin rubbed her arm and laughed nervously.

“Hey, Dad,” Marvin waved. “I’m home!”

Max didn’t move or say anything back.

“I’m sorry I probably put you and Mom through the worst day ever!” Marvin apologized, beginning to rapidly explain her circumstances. “I would have kept in touch more, but I left my phone at school and Milo was asking me to make sure Missy got away from a bunch of aliens- I didn’t want them to somehow track you through my phone, or something, and then you and Mom get abducted too. I know, I know that’s no excuse… but I’m sorry, okay? I’m really, really sorry-“

Marvin was cut off when Max approached her, then hugging her tightly.

“I’m just glad that you’re safe,” said Max. “I was worried about you all day.”

Marvin hugged her father back, feeling guilt weighing heavy on her back.

“I know, I’m sorry,” said Marvin. “It won’t happen again, I promise. And I promise I’m okay too-“ Marvin pulled away and gestured to herself. “I made it out without a single scratch!”

As happy as Max was to have his teenage daughter back home and safe, the parent part of his brain was still functioning. He crossed his arms and looked at Marvin to see what she would say or do next.

“Mom at Grandpa’s?” guessed Marvin.

“Mhm,” Max nodded. “You’re going to have a lot of explaining to do, and you’re calling her first thing in the morning tomorrow.”

“I’m grounded,” Marvin cringed, “aren’t I…?”

“Oh yeah,” Max confirmed, “big time!”

Marvin held the arm and glanced down to the kitchen floor in gloom. It was then that Max noticed that this was the first time he had seen Marvin with her hair down in a long time. Not only that but when Marvin began talking about the events she experienced that day there was a certain spark in her eyes that Max hadn’t seen in her in an even longer time. That spark was the same one that Max had when he first became a dreamer, and he understood how easy it was for those sparks to fade away. Max didn’t want to watch that happen to Marvin when she was still so young.

“We can talk about that stuff tomorrow,” said Max. “Right now, I want you to tell me everything that happened today.”

“I mean…” Marvin still felt awkward. “I kinda did get abducted by an alien scouter-“

“The hero stuff, Marvin,” Max clarified. “You made it back home safe, and I know that was my first hero pep talk but I know at least an ounce of excitement happened today, so I want you to tell me about it.”

With that, Marvin's eyes lit up as she adjusted her glasses and she smiled up at Max.

“Oh my gosh,” Marvin began, “after I biked all the way to the Heroics HQ, Missy and a bunch of other kids were flying in a train cart. And when I hitched a ride, that’s when I found out I could use the crystal heart!”

Marvin’s version of the story left out the parts where she was a nervous wreck for the majority of the day. Getting to see Marvin genuinely excited and happy about something that had happened to her was something special for Max, he just wished Marissa could have been there to witness it all too.

“Oh! That reminds me,” Marvin turned and opened the oven. “I was making some cookies to apologize when I got home earlier, but they’re for some new friends I made today too. You’ll never guess who they are!”

As Marvin carefully removed the tray of freshly made cookies from the oven, she continued to tell Max about her adventure that day when Max saw what was left of the first batch. Immediately, Max did a doubletake when he saw the cookie crumbs and chunks that remained, but there was something almost familiar about them. Cautiously stepping closure to the plate, Max picked up two different cookies and studied how different they were from the other. One was charred beyond recognition of a chocolate chip cookie, and the other showed a bitemark with jagged teeth- _shark_ teeth.

This scene was all too familiar, but before Max could ask Marvin if anyone else was in the house with them there was another flash of lightning that lit up the attached living room. There the dark room had been lit up for a split second, and at the moment Max looked up to where the wall arched and divided the two rooms. There, clinging to the corner he caught a glimpse of a girl clinging to one corner of the ceiling, and a boy clung to the other. This time when the light was gone the two figures clinging to the ceiling remained; the girl had long hair that draped over her shoulders and Max could see that the boy had fins on his arms and back. It was still too dark for anyone to tell who they were for sure. Max felt like he had a good idea though.

Max stood still and held his breath. He blinked his eyes three times, but the two figures were still there.

“Sharkboy?” called Max. “Lavagirl?”

The girl turned her head to look at the boy when he let go of the wall and landed on the floor with a grunt. Oddly enough the boy was roughly the same height as Sharkboy the last time Max had seen him. But after watching the boy walk over to the girl’s side and hold his arms up toward her, the girl that dropped down was much, _much_ smaller than the Lavagirl that Max remembered. Confused, Max watched the boy lower the girl down onto the floor when they both began walking out into the light. Sure enough, they weren’t Sharkboy nor Lavagirl.

The girl was small and young- maybe about seven years old. Her hair was long and sandy blonde. After she climbed up onto one of the bar stools at the island and closer to Max, there was a certain light behind her eyes that made him think of the girl he mistook her for. As for the boy, those were definitely fins Max saw. Even more incriminating was his familiar shade of pink hair. The boy had been trying to avoid making eye contact with Max, and when he finally looked up he attempted a nervous smile that displayed his shark-like teeth.

“It’s nice to meet you, sir,” the boy nodded politely.

Looking down to the little girl next to him, the boy tapped her on the shoulder and bent down to whisper into her ear.

“Guppy, be nice!” the boy grumbled.

“What?” the girl had been looking at the tray of fresh cookies until she looked up at Max. She smiled sweetly. “Oh, hi!”

“Hello,” Max waved back, confused and in shock.

Marvin walked around the other side of the island and stood behind the boy and girl. She smiled at both of them and then looked up at Max to begin the introductions.

“Dad, this is Guppy and Riptide,” said Marvin. “They’re two of the friends that I made today.”

Suddenly Max’s confusion and shock faded when he figured out that there was a teenage boy in his house, and he wasn’t too sure about the way that his daughter was smiling at him. Nonetheless, Max silently told himself that he wouldn’t become ‘that’ parent until there was enough evidence to provoke it. After all, Marvin’s best friend was a boy from her class too and Milo was never a problem.

“So, long story short,” said Marvin. “We all teamed up with a bunch of other kids and we helped save the world from an invasion that was never even going to happen, and you’re never going to guess who I got to meet today!”

Marvin was starting to bounce up and down animatedly, noticeably even happier about the last part of what she said. She looked down at Guppy and then to Riptide, then the three of them turned to look behind Max. Max then heard a pair of footsteps enter into the kitchen from behind him, prompting him to turn around.

Max felt so wide awake and at the same time, he felt like he was dreaming.

“Hey, Max,” Lavagirl greeted. “It’s been a while.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been really fun writing this fic, thanks to everyone who's read it :)

**Author's Note:**

> Marvin and the sidekicks are about 14-15. And I hid a few Easter eggs in the fic too!  
> And if anyone's wondering about the title- it was inspired by "Unstoppable" by The Score.


End file.
